Unseen Evils (Formerly: Healing the Wounds and Hiding the Scars)
by AnaSky1823
Summary: (WARNING: abuse, depression, suicide attempts, and drug addiction) When an unnamed woman breaks into the temple, the Jedi learn a dark secret about her past and her alleged family in Separatist space. When they find out where she really came from, the Separatists do everything in their power to torture her into coming back.
1. Chapter 1

Once again, Anakin woke up in the med-bay after falling over from extreme pain. Next to him was a clear sack of what had to be more morphine hanging next to his bedside and a needle in his flesh arm. Honestly, any more trips like this and he'd get addicted to the stuff. This wasn't near the first time he had gone through this; it had been going on since before he had even left his mother. When Shmi was caring for her, he just laid her to bed and sat by his side to comfort him until he stopped crying from pain, either from going unconscious or the pain just stopping. Obi-wan did the same, to some extent, obviously not stroking his shoulder in a motherly way.

He turned to his side to see his master, sitting as his side like normal. "Finally, awake, are we?" he asked Anakin in a near-teasing voice. They liked to make light of these situations when they came up, but only to the point where it wasn't complete teasing.

"How bad was it this time?"

"You were screaming for about ten seconds and blacked out."

"Only ten? I don't even remember feeling it."

"Well, unfortunately, everyone remembers seeing you fall over screaming. Are you sure you can do this assignment?"

"It's just scouting, I'll be fine."

"Are you absolutely sure? It's okay if you're not."

"What are the medics going to do if this comes up again? This has been going on for most of my life, I doubt they'd figure it out in a week."

"Maybe not, but you can compromise everything if this happens again."

"They already told me to stay behind, didn't they?" With a sigh, Obi-wan nodded. "Figures."

"Anakin, we're all just concerned about this whole deal."

"Really? This one assignment is _so_ urgent that I'm not allowed this _one _time to go out over a little pain."

"It's much more serious than that. We can't just keep stocking up on painkillers for you and this was a pretty serious round. Maybe it's for the best just this once. If it's not as bad next time, we'll let you leave again."

"Fine," Anakin answered as he rolled onto his side, "whatever." Realizing defeat, Obi-wan stood to leave.

"Do you want them to take the morphine out?"

"Nah, just keep it in for a bit longer."

"Okay. Don't take too much at once."

"Yeah, yeah." Nothing could get through to him anymore. Obi-wan thought it best to leave, knowing this; by the time he returned, Anakin wouldn't be as irrationally upset.

* * *

"I assume you're wondering why I called you here," Dooku asked the damaged woman kneeling in front of his desk.

"A bit, Great Uncle Jard, yes," she answered with a voice resembling his inflections, only tinier and more feminine.

"It's simple, child, I want you to infiltrate the Jedi Temple for me."

"The Jedi Temple, sir?"

"Specifically their archives. There are holocrons kept in a vault there. A bounty hunter managed to break in for one, once, but I want much more than just a list of force-sensitive children."

"What do you mean, Great Uncle Jard? That is, if you don't mind me asking."

"There are plans and tactics they keep hidden away there, countless files for us to use against them in our pursuit of victory. I want you to take some of them."

"Wouldn't security be heightened after the bounty hunter's attempts?"

"My concern is not how the goal is accomplished for you, only that it is achieved."

"But, sir-."

"Am I understood, Geneva?" His vice was beginning to raise in volume, a common sign that persistence is not a wise move. Any more argument from her could result in a repeat from early that day, which she didn't need while still bandaged heavily.

"I understand... I'll get your holocrons however possible."

"As I thought. There's a ship packed and ready to depart, I suggest you board it before it leaves without you."

"Yes, sir."

"Do _not_ fail me, child," he continued as he began to lean over the desk towards her. "It will not end well for you." She gulped in terror at the implication and nodded fearfully. "You're dismissed." She bowed respectfully, a gesture she was aggressively and swiftly taught to follow for him, before scurrying out of the room in a hurry. The hallways were always longer and windier when she was supposed to leave on her own.

On the bright side, at least she got her lightsaber privileges back from last time she had failed.

Yes, her _privileges_ on her weaponry. Geneva is enough of a failure in life that she can only have a life-saving weapon in her disposal if Dooku says she's allowed. It's been that way since she first made it at ten-years old. She even remembered the conversation they had, even the dreary setting of their shuttle after they had stolen the supplies.

_"Listen here, girl," he told her, "this weapon, along with anything else you __think__you own, belongs to me. If ever you use it, it's because I allow you to do so."_

_"I won't disappoint you, then," she half-whispered quietly in response._

_"You had better not. That weapon isn't the only thing you risk losing should you defy me." With a shudder, she proceeded to finish the assembly. She wasn't given a crystal, which was a rite mostly for Jedi younglings. Instead, Dooku had one prepared for her when the hilt was finished._

_"G-g-Great Uncle Jard?" She had called out to him a moment later. "I finished. Can I put the crystal in so I can test it?"_

_"__You __aren't testing it. You're too inexperienced to wield a light-saber."_

_"Then, how will I-?"_

_"You'll give it to me until you are properly trained to handle this." Reluctantly, Geneva nodded and handed her hilt to the elder._

Until the rise of the Clone War, she never laid eyes on it again.

* * *

Of course it wasn't enough to have to stay at the temple while Obi-wan went off to the galaxy, no, Anakin also had to stay in the med-bay in case he had another fit. He could have spent the time walking around and getting a little exercise or spending time alone in his room where people left him to his secrecy or doing _literally anything else that wasn't laying in one bed!_ It wasn't like surges of pain would cause and of his limbs... well, non-mechanical limbs... to fall off or anything. And to wrap it all up in a gorgeous little bow, doctors came in once every hour or so to monitor him and hear the same speech about how he's fine and isn't in extreme pain anymore. Clearly, he hasn't used the morphine since the initial burst, so why even bother asking?

At least they left him alone at night, it gave him the opportunity to stop potential disaster.

He laid in bed (shocker) trying to sleep while the hum of the city sounded outside of the window next to his bed. He knew from the beginning something wasn't right, but it was more of a hunch, so he left it alone. That is, he left it until he sensed someone outside. He crept slowly to the window in case he was seen; no point in allowing whoever this was to find out he or she has been seen. He panned the surrounding wall, everything he could see, and found a hooded figure scaling the wall of one of the spires.

"Oh, no you don't," he whispered to himself. All of his possessions, including his lightsaber, were kept in a closet close to his room. It was like that for all patients so they didn't go into some sort of fit and try to attack the medics with more than the Force. Fortunately, he knew where this room was and instantly ran off towards it. The rooms were always locked at night, but were easy to get through if one knew how, and this wasn't Anakin's first time breaking out of the med-bay at night.

* * *

Things seemed to be going relatively well for Geneva. No one seemed to have spotted her and the temple walls were surprisingly easy to climb once she found her footing. Although, concealment might be from the cloak she found left in the shuttle on her way to the planet. It definitely helps if you're closer in color to your surroundings. Things seemed to finally be going right for a change, Geneva thought. Maybe Dooku would actually praise her for doing something so dangerous and actually doing it correctly.

Of course, she got too confident too early. Once she had climbed up on the roof, there was someone waiting for her dressed in clothing that had to be from the med-bay. She recognized his face from when he had fought Dooku and she watched from the shadows, but couldn't place any name with his face other than "Skywalker". Either way, she knew she was in trouble with one of the strongest Jedi in the entire order looking at her with a lightsaber in his hand. He ignited the blade, only causing her fears to rise at the realization that she really was in trouble.

"Not another step," he growled through the breeze. She, too, grabbed her hilt from her belt and ignited the blade.

"What'll you do about it, Jedi?" she relied back, trying hard to hide the fearful tremor in her voice. From how she heard herself, her voice sounded like she hid it well enough.

"Why don't you come and find out?" For a moment, they stood in silence, their hair flowing in the wind as well as their clothing, not sound other than the speeders around them and their weapons humming softly in their hands, time frozen between them but everything around them still moving. She couldn't quite tell what Anakin was doing, but Geneva was planning her next move based off of what she'd seen from him. He was reckless and can be quick to anger, so she could easily get him frustrated and use this blind attacks against him by letting him tire himself. The only question was where she could attack from that would be the best advantage for her.

* * *

She stood there silently, whoever she was. The hood over her head kept her face hidden, but all Anakin really cared about her was that she was a Sith and she was going down. However, he was at least going to give her the chance to run before killing her. Sure, he could just end it now, but he didn't want to be lectured about the code after being held back at the temple. Not the best time to hear it, the way Anakin saw it.

The mysterious woman poised herself, then suddenly lunged at him straight on. He managed to deflect the attack, the style was familiar to him and almost second nature. It was refined to fit this woman a bit more, but he still recognized it nonetheless. She stumbled a bit at his strength, likely she didn't expect it, but she recovered quickly. Again, she lunged, and, again, it was deflected. She seemed to have a better gauge on his power as she stood straight after the attack.

It was clear this woman wasn't backing down, so the only option was to fight her off. He struck at her swiftly and with enough ferocity to supposedly get her off balance but to no avail. From there, the two were a flurry of red and blue, neither really seeing the other attack but somehow knowing where and how to defend against it. The two seemed to be reading the other's mind with how synchronized their vengeful dance was. At the same time, no one seemed to be gaining or losing ground, getting Anakin a bit frustrated.

* * *

It didn't take long to get Anakin's temper going; all Geneva had to do was observe and react before he could strike her. He never got a single nick on her, yet the same went for her blade. It was clear the two were equally matched, but Geneva knew how to combat the issue in her favor. She'd been trained well, after all, and had learned much from her many instructors. While none of them were Dooku, those who did train her have similar style and technique to him in some places while allowing personal adaptations in others. Geneva had combined these many methods in a way that would make her effective against just about any opponent she faced.

This headstrong teenager would _not _be the one to prove her wrong in that merit.

* * *

In order to break the endless cycle of combat before she exhausted herself, Geneva struck her opponent in a way that would end them both in a standstill. From all the times she had seen other people fight this Jedi, she knew how to do it with him and was confident in her ability to hold him still long enough to do what she needed. With a loud impact of their blades, their quarrel stood still. Geneva knew she had to let it stand for a moment before acting, for giving the Jedi a false hope that he'd win as well as to determine the exact best move to use against him. She had to be swift with her decision, otherwise she would have failed Dooku's teachings for her.

Finally, she found the best attack. Using the Force, she tripped her opponent so his foot slid as he landed and jabbed him in the throat with her elbow when he was at the exact position for her to do so. He landed on his side coughing and unable to get up. It was strange, however, as she felt the blow as if it had happened to her. She only pondered on it for a moment before remembering her objective, she had to run before she was discovered again or she would have to face Dooku. Even the thought sent a shiver down her spine.

* * *

Catching his breath was a struggle when Anakin was sure his trachea was at least partially crushed. Whoever this woman was, she knew how to hurt someone. Clearly, he wasn't going to be able to do anything anymore, so he needed to call for help before this mystery woman caused too much trouble. He go out his communicator, knowing he'd probably be told off for leaving the med-bay and getting himself into trouble as well as wondering how well he'd be able to speak, and immediately contacted security.

"Intruder..." he painfully choked out, "...on the run... last on roof..." He couldn't say anymore without causing any more pain, but hoped the information he was able to give would be enough. All he could do now was try to breathe enough to go back to the med-bay or wait for someone to realize he was gone and find him. The more he stayed still, the faster he seemed to recover from the blow. Just before he felt ready to stand up again, he was found. Believing it was the mystery woman, he readied himself as much as he could to attack. However, once he sensed who approached him, he calmed down.

"You know your bed isn't here on the roof, right?" he heard his student's voice from above him.

"Medics or security?" he asked, still hoarse.

"Both, actually, at the same time. Guard said you called and medic said you ran off somewhere."

"Great. Did they catch the intruder, yet?"

"They haven't seen one." That couldn't be good...

"Haven't seen one?"

"The guards have been looking since you alerted them, and they haven't seen anything. The only people out aside from people patrolling were the intensive care medics and you."

"She's been outside trying to get in, of course they might miss her on a regular patrol."

"Do you know where she's going?"

"No, I just know she was trying to get in."

"Well, they should see her at some point, then, if that's the case. Right now, though, you need to go back to bed."

"Snips, no, don't make me do this," he groaned, his voice recovered enough to groan without too much strain.

"It's only three more days, you can hold out."

"But it's _so boring_."

"Look, you've survived nearly getting eaten alive countless times, getting shot down both in and out of planetary atmospheres, and getting nearly crushed to death, you can survive boredom."

"I was _doing something _those other times."

"I will carry you down there if I have to, Master. Do you wanna be seen being carried?" For a moment, he was silent. His eyes moved with deep thought as he considered the prospect of Ahsoka carrying him back to the med-bay. On the one hand, he'd be carried and won't be walking himself; on the other, his 130 pound apprentice will be carrying him to the med-bay. "Well?"

"I'm thinking about it."

* * *

The next morning, Geneva was crawling through the crowded streets. The temple was still in sight but she was far enough away to consider herself in the clear. Enough people surrounded her that she wouldn't be caught even if someone other than the one Jedi saw her last night. Over her shoulder was a satchel with a single holocron inside, though she couldn't tell what it held within. It was what her great-uncle had wanted from her, as far as she could tell, thus needed to tell him of her success.

She crept into an abandoned alley concealed in shadows and smelling of old alcohol and illegal substances of many kinds. No one saw her, she figured, and she was still very much in the clear, enough to call Dooku, at least. She pulled out a communicator after making sure one last time that no one was paying attention to her and called for her great-uncle.

_"I hope this is worth my time, child," _he spoke bluntly to her.

"It is," she answered. "I've done as you requested and escaped undetected."

_"How many did you take?"_

"Well... I only grabbed one, but I-"

_"_**One? **_What do you expect we do with only a single vessel of information?"_

"I expected it to be enough. If need be, I would simply return to the temple and collect more."

_"You will be returning tonight, then. I expect more than one holocron in your possession by tomorrow morning."_

"Yes, sir... I understand."

_"You're not to return until I permit you to. Do I make myself clear, girl?"_

"Yes, sir." His image faded a moment later, leaving behind a distraught Geneva alone. New territory wasn't a new idea for Geneva, she's been one to travel since she was still little. The problem was that someone had seen her and her presence was made known. Going back to the temple would be a challenge, even Moreno than the previous night.

She also couldn't seem to shake the Jedi from her mind. He knew her attacks almost before she even managed to strike, he was the only one to even know she was there, and that kick to his throat...

Why did it hurt her to attack him? Clearly, it was effective for him, but she felt almost all of the exertion she put into it, even feeling her breath be cut from the kick. It made no sense to her.

* * *

Every evening for the next few weeks, Geneva had taken a holocron and fled to the streets before being seen. Many times, she was worried a guard had seen her, but security had changed very little since the other Jedi fought her. She would always report her success to Dooku in hopes that he would allow her to return back to Serenno, but her always told her to get another one. It was never enough, 2, 20, 200, it was all the same to Great-uncle Jard, it seemed. She still couldn't even fathom what information would be stored on these devices that he would possibly need, at least without getting it on his own through common research.

Nevertheless, she was tasked with doing it and her loyalties were with the man who privileged her with a home, clothing and food when she was good, even if it was rarely enough to keep her going in times. She could never defy him; he would beat her into an accepting submission if she argued and hunt her down and kill her in an instant if she ever ran away. Disobedience was never an option for Geneva. Her lot in life was to be quiet, do as Great-Uncle Jard tells her when he tells her, and, most of all, never object...

...ever...

"27 missing, huh?" Anakin reaffirmed once Obi-wan had told him holocrons were missing. After he had fought the intruder and bugged the council about checking to see if any were missing, he had insisted on tightening security to prevent any more from vanishing to no avail. He mocked Obi-wan's I-told-you-so tone before continuing. "Now, if memory serves, I do believe I mentioned this might be an issue once you said there were a few gone after you came back. Maybe that security should be tighter around the vault?"

"Yes, yes, you did," Obi-wan answered with annoyance.

"And what was your response?"

"That it wouldn't be necessary," he grumbled quietly in an agitated response.

"I'm sorry, what was that? I couldn't hear you," Anakin spoke as he held an ear to Obi-wan with a hand cupped around it.

"It wouldn't be necessary," he spoke again, this time a little louder.

"One more time, please?"

"We get it, Anakin. You were right and we were wrong. Just, enough of this."

"Feels good to hear that in someone else's voice." Obi-wan gave a wordless roll of his eyes as a response.

"I didn't show up here to give you a reason to gloat. The council was going to station a few people in the archives as a watch for tonight and you've been selected to take part."

"So...security is going to be tighter around the vault? Which is exactly where the problem came from to begin with?" Obi-wan groaned audibly as his face fell into his hand.

"Just be there after sunset."

"Alright. Just make sure everyone else knows this was my idea first and the council hated it."

Obi-wan turned on his heels in annoyance, muttering to himself, "Why do I even try anymore?" Anakin laid back on his bed, chuckling to himself. He was actually _right_ about something. He had won a debate with the council without having to even say anything after one instance. He had to admit, it felt great to be on the receiving end for once.

The only question on his mind was what to do before he needs to go on watch. Mid-afternoon was a good few hours away from early twilight, and he didn't really want to leave or tire himself out before then, so there wasn't much else left for him to considered sleeping, but dismissed the idea when he remembered just how heavy of a sleeper he could be in times. Meditating was dull, fidgeting with random things around the room wasn't enough, walks around the corridors provided nothing, nothing really caught his attention.

Suddenly, Anakin thought of doing the unthinkable...

He was going to do... _research_.

Normally, sitting in front of a monitor to brush up on knowledge was on par with meditating; it was boring, almost completely pointless, and normally told him nothing he couldn't find out from simple conversation. However, he couldn't shake the intruder from his mind. No one had seen her, but e was certain she was an unfamiliar face among the long list of enemies he had for himself... at least, he would say that if he even _saw_ her face. It was obvious, however, that she was likely a disciple to Dooku, given her red light-saber and refined ability to use it. Whether she was a replacement for Ventress or not, he was unsure, but it was possible. Maybe he could get some answers.

* * *

Long after the cool evening had settled, Geneva made her move into the temple as she had every other night. Her methods were simple; crawl through the vents in certain points, get high up in others, and wedge herself in small crevices in any instance she needed to. However, as she was in one of her instances of being perched at a high point, she encountered her first issue of the evening. She moved to a spot where she would be able to contact Dooku without being noticed and took out her communicator. "Great-Uncle Jard?" she whispered timidly to his image. "I've encountered a bit of a setback."

_"Explain yourself,"_ he replied coldly, yet just as quietly.

"Well, they've heightened security, as I've feared. There are too many witnesses around the vault, and I sense there's even a few inside."

_"Are you telling me that after nearly 19-years of training, you can't eliminate any threats you come across on the simplest of tasks?"_

"N-no, sir, not at all. I only mean to tell you—"

_"You only mean to tell me you've wasted my time. You will _**not**_back out of your orders. Either return with the information as I asked, or return in an unrecognizable pile of meat and bones. Am I understood."_

Geneva audibly gulped with fear. "Y-y-es, G-great-uncle Jard. I-I won't fail you." Dooku's image faded from within her hand. This was it, either succeed or die.

* * *

Anakin and Ahsoka waited inside the vault, mostly filled with the valuable holocrons though a few places were empty with the stolen few, for the intruder to appear. They decided to follow their watch as most people would late into the evening, one awake and one asleep, switching once the one awake tires of his or her post. Anakin decided to allow Ahsoka the first sleep and take on the first watch, thinking it would be better for her if she slept first, regardless of possible intrusion. Only two-hours into the wait, he sensed her presence from outside.

He pulled his wrist to his lips and spoke into the device to the other Jedi on watch, "She's here, be on guard." Everyone else responded in affirmation as he retrieved his hilt from its spot on his belt. He wouldn't activate it until someone, preferably not him, had seen and began fighting the mystery intruder. He was shocked once he realized he sensed her getting closer and no one had even stared any sort of quarrel.

Geneva found a way to combat the issue of so many Jedi guarding the archives. A good many of them were already showing signs of exhaustion from being awake so late into the evening while the rest were already sleeping. She extended her arm out towards the rest of the room. Using the Force, she lulled all of the guards who were fighting unconsciousness into a peaceful and heavy slumber. Everyone who was already sleeping was lulled deeper into unconsciousness as those awake closed their eyes quietly. Geneva knew it wouldn't have worked on the two inside the vault, but it didn't matter now that there was less significant danger. She could deal with the two independently.

She crawled on her perch to where her hole in the wall from the previous nights was ready and available for her to climb through, with the exception of moving the one piece of the wall she used to hide had enough of a ledge in the vault that she could walk in without the door thus was able to better ambush the Jedi. She could try getting them to sleep, but she was already exhausted from getting everyone else out of the picture and didn't expect to be able to do it, she knew she would be able to fight off a few lone Jedi. She survived one, what's one more so long as she succeeds for Great-uncle Jard.

She saw the two who awaited her; one was the Jedi from the first night and the one who was asleep was someone she recognized as his padawan, though had never heard or seen much of. Maybe this would be easier than she initially thought. A child and someone easy to anger was something Geneva was confident in being able to handle.

She saw the older Jedi approach the younger one and lightly shake her awake. "Snips," he whispered to her, "you gotta wake up." She groaned and rubbed her eyes as she emerged from her slumber. "Someone's here, get ready."

"Okay," she replied as she stretched and stood. "How close is she?"

"She's right above us." Turns out she wasn't as stealthy as she thought. No matter, that wasn't her goal.

* * *

Ahsoka readied herself for the fight to come. This mystery woman couldn't show up soon enough this late into guarding and having to wait even more was just starting to get Anakin even more frustrated than being stuck in a room all night. Why wasn't she making her move? This was the perfect opportunity for her, given the circumstances of being in the temple, anyway. Move something, make a noise, fall from above, anything that would tell where exactly she was would be enough.

Seconds later, she came down. She was still wrapped in her cloak from the previous night, but he could sense it was still her. The two cornered her and ignited their blades for the coming fight. Again, she just sat there. This woman and sitting around, it wasn't too far from Obi-wan. Why all the sitting around? What purpose does it serve her?

The next thing Anakin knew, he was on the ground and thrown a good ways back. The still unidentified woman was nearing Ahsoka, only to go through her just as easily as she had with him. If anything, it was simpler for her. It appears that she thought she had won the battle when she grabbed what she wanted, another holocrons, but the two refused to let her escape. She tried to leap back up to her ledge, but was caught short by Anakin pulling her back down with the Force. Her hood fell from her head as she landed, as well as the holocron from her grip; finally, a chance to identify this thief.

She rose from the floor, poising herself to fight back. Her hair covered her face just a little longer, as though she was purposefully hiding her identity for as long as possible. She drew her blade and activated it, retrieving the holorcon in the process, and darting for the door. Anakin ran to Ahsoka to help her up and make sure she was alright. The two then followed the strange woman outside, only to leave the vault as the door leading to the corridor was closing. Everyone else who was meant to be on guard was on the floor, initially thought to be dead but upon a second glance could be seen breathing slowly and heavily with no injury.

The two followed close behind the mystery woman with the intent to subdue. However, they prepared themselves to do whatever necessary to keep her from escaping, even if it meant to kill her. She still kept her face a secret, but they knew it wouldn't be long until they caught her and met eyes with their opponent. She had determination to succeed in her task, but so did Anakin and Ahsoka. No way they'd listen to a lecture from the council about how they failed as opposed to allow her to escape with whatever motivation kept her coming back.


	2. Chapter 2

She ran as fast as she could, hoping they didn't see her face. She had to keep it secret or she could be found, then she'd only be a failure in her great-uncle's eyes. The Jedi were close behind her, but she was staying ahead fairly easily and refused to allow herself to slow even a little, not even to pull her hood back up. She could manage with hiding her face other ways, anything to hide her identity for as long as possible.

Eventually, she heard the distance between her steps and theirs grow substantially and eventually diminish completely. She figured she was in the clear, at this point, and just needed to keep running before she was seen by someone else. Even a single extra pair of eyes could completely compromise everything, and she couldn't have that when she was so close to going back home. At least, she would have thought so.

It wouldn't have mattered if her great-uncle would have allowed her to return that night or not. She was delayed regardless. When she thought she was in the clear, the two Jedi got past her, making her think they had slowed when they, in reality, only took a different path to get to her. For all of Geneva's planning, she neglected the vents above where she was running.

She didn't even remember the impact or the aftermath, only that she was running and suddenly stopped, if it even went that far into her mind. Everything faded instantly, disconnecting her from the consciousness of the living reality. There was no pain, no confusion, just a sudden break as her mind shut off and left her empty, injured body in its wake. Had she known she had fallen, she may have worried, but she was still oblivious to the impact, and would remain as such until her resurgence when the damage she had suffered was resolved.

* * *

Anakin's last-minute plan succeeded. Using the vents for Ahsoka to catch up to this mystery woman was brilliant, if he did say so himself. And he did. He heard the impact, he even could have sworn he felt it a bit, but turned the corner only after the unidentified thief was crumbled against the wall and Ahsoka had already completely stood up. She seemed almost panicked, however when he finally met with her. Normally, Ahsoka was used to hurting people, sometimes she didn't even think twice about it, but it was as if this was a special case.

"I just called the medics," she told him hastily. "They said they'll have someone here in a few minutes."

"Is everything okay?" he asked as he finally took note of her watering eyes.

"She's been out of a while, now. That's not normal. I think I seriously hurt her."

"How long?"

"Almost five minutes. Usually, people at least open their eyes after almost a minute at most. What if I killed her?"

"Calm down, Snips," he coaxed her as he put his hands on her shoulders. "If there's anything _that_ serious, the medics will pick it up, but I highly doubt it will even get to that point. You probably got her harder than you wanted to, but I _seriously_ doubt you just killed someone. Why don't you go tell someone who's still awake that we caught this person and meet me in the med-bay after they come get her?" With a deep, calming breath, Ahsoka nodded. "I'll see you in a bit."

"Okay." She walked past him down the corridor and vanished behind a corner. He was alone with an unconscious criminal, but it was better than letting her roam freely through the temple to her eventual escape. She would only keep coming back, and that was something the Jedi couldn't afford to let happen.

A few medics, as well as Ahsoka and Obi-wan, came by sooner than expected. Naturally, Obi-wan looked groggy and a bit unkempt with interrupted sleep, but still followed the adolescent. Anakin rose to meet with them while the woman was put on a stretcher.

"I see you caught her," Obi-wan told him sleepily.

"Yes, we did. Because I was—"

"If you're just going to say that you were right, I'm going to throw you out of that window! It's to early to hear you brag!"

"Its only 11 at night," Ahsoka added.

"Exactly."

"Go back to bed, then. We only wanted to show you we got her."

"I'll probably be wanted when they're examining her. By the way, how long has she been out?" Ahsoka visibly tensed up, to which Anakin responded with a friendly hand on her shoulder.

"Ahsoka got her and she hasn't regained consciousness, yet. We aren't sure, but we're hoping it's nothing serious," he answered for her.

"She'd better wake up. She knows where those missing holocrons are. Without her, they might very well never come back."

"Give her a break," Anakin turned his head to face her, "she got kicked in the head." Ahaoka and Obi-wan continued the conversation without him. There was something about the woman that kept Anakin's attention. He couldn't tell if it was good or bad, but there was something about her...

...then it hit him.

A small section of her hair fell away from her face, revealing almost half of it. He forgot where he was for a moment, only recalling memories of his mother. For a moment, he was cool Vince's he was reunited with her as he had always hoped before her untimely demise. It seemed, for a moment, that her untimely demjse never even happened.

"Anakin!" Obi-wan's voice called out, snapping him away from the blissful illusion. "They need us to go. Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," he answered softly.

Obi-wan walked towards him. "You two have had a long night," he told Anakin, quietly and almost understandingly, "go get some rest. I'll go with them."

* * *

The rest of the week was restless for Anakin. All he thought about was that woman and why he felt so at peace with half of her face. He swore she looked _vaguely_ like his mother, but he didn't focus too much on it as opposed to remembering the happy moments from his youth, whichever ones he could scrounge up from his mind, anyway. The more he thought about it, the more it saddened him to even consider thinking of his deceased mother. As far as he knew, she was his only living relative, and he needed to keep it that way and let go if he didn't want another speech from the council about attachment being the root of all evil.

A small while after dawn arose, Anakin heard his door open, followed by Ahsoka's voice. "Master," she spoke, still somewhat fatigued from the early mornig, "Master Kenobi wanted to see us in the med-bay."

"Tell him I'll be there in a bit," he answered. His voice sounded even more down-trodden than he expected, and Ahsoka definitely noticed. She approached the bed and sat next to him.

"Is everything alright? You've been acting weird since they took her away."

"It's..." He trailed off. After the many times he had warned Ahsoka about attachment and emotion, how could he tell her he still mourns the loss of a loved one? How would she even understand his emotions on the matter? She was far younger than he was when she was brought to the temple, young enough to not even remember her parents' faces. On top of that, he always tried to keep his past as far away from his as possible, including Ahsoka; she had no idea that he lost his mother, or at least that he knew her and was as close as he was. "It's nothing, don't worry about it."

"It doesn't sound like nothing."

"Well, it is. Just forget it."

"Skyguy, I know you too well, you can't fool me." He didn't answer. Already, he was getting agitated and can't stand yelling at Ahsoka. "Look, you don't have to tell me, but I'm telling Master Kenobi so you can talk to him. One way or another, you need to talk to someone."

"Whatever. When does he need us?"

"He says we need to be there as soon as possible. Apparently, they think she's going to wake up soon and they want us there when she does."

"Okay, go ahead and go down and I'll meet you there." She nodded, then left him alone. For a few moments later, he pondered on his earlier thoughts before he decided to go before he was welcomed with a scolding of how he's always late.

* * *

Geneva's senses came back slowly. She was first revived with a terrible headache, especially on one of her temples, but also everywhere else. It must have been from the impact, she could also feel that she was in a rather uncomfortable mattress with a sheet and comforter over her body and pillow under her head, a few needles in her arm, and a few sensors all over her chest and even a few sensors and a wrapped bandage on her forehead. Must be a hospital, she thought. Only there would they put so much attention on care yet still somehow make you physically uncomfortable.

Next came her hearing. A few voices hung around talking in murmur that was slowly getting clearer and easier to decipher. She could hear the monitors she was connected to making their usual noises. The doors to her side were swishing as people came in and left, presumably the doctors monitoring her condition, as well as the lights, she assumed, around her making a light hum when there were no voices around and she was able to focus on it. After a while, she heard two people walk in, one small and another large, and about seven people tell them they were late. Yeah, being late to a patient was a terrible quality for a doctor and it could be easily assessed that they could be students if so many people were around her.

Finally, her vision came to her. Her eyes slowly opened, receding only when she realized how bright the room was. Everything was a blur of colors that slowly morphed into comprehensible shapes. It was then she realized that her situation was far more dire than she had initially realized. At first, she figured her great-uncle found out her danger and rescued her, followed by taking her to get medical attention; instead, she was surrounded by a blue, glowing field with people she recognized as Jedi Council members and the two Jedi she has already fought before all with eyes on her. Her light-saber was gone, though she could see the red-haired man with the beard holding it on his belt and figured she could easily get it back when she recovered.

The only real problem she saw for herself in the most immediate situation was being surrounded. If she could pick them all off one by one, slowly as they all came to her with no more than one or two people at a time, she could escape and get back home. As long as they didn't find the holocrons she already held safely in a secure location, she would be fine. She could take Great-uncle Jard scolding her. Maybe she wouldn't have to if he understood her situation. She had been revealed and captured, she doesn't really have much choice other than to run. Besides, she gathered plenty of information and could likely find a way back if they needed more. She couldn't see why they _would_ need more, but Great-uncle Jard probably could for her. At the moment, however, she needed to get back home to him. The sooner the better.

* * *

The council was told that the mystery woman would need a while before she was able to speak, but they were going to have someone monitor her until she regains her speech enough to properly communicate. At the moment, she could make simple hand gestures and project body language, but she wasn't vocal yet. All of the debate took place just outside of her door, so she could hear most of what was said. Even despite his annoyance and protest on the matter, they chose the man that Geneva heard the council refer to as "Skywalker". As soon as she saw him, she knew her escape would be easier than she initially anticipated.

Outside of Geneva's room, an auburn-haired man with a beard gave Skywalker instructions and a brief overview of Geneva's medical analysis. From what Geneva could see, Skywalker seemed like he was holding back the urge to kill someone. She still couldn't move very well, but she could almost feel the rage building withing him from having to watch over someone who couldn't do anything on her own. From what Geneva gathered on him, Skywalker was one to take action and did better in the field; what a perfect time to give him Hell, she figured. He'd get mad, and she would be able to escape to gather all of her possessions and leave the planet to return home.

A short while passed by before he came into the room grumbling angrily about his situation. His eyes were glued to a data-pad, presumably with Geneva's information and a bit of protocol for him. Her field of vision was limited since her head wouldn't move (at least, not more than a few inches to either side), but she knew exactly where Skywalker was every time she lost sight of him just from being able to hear him. After his frustrations seemed to die down and he finished reading the data-pad, he grabbed a seat and moved it next to Geneva. For a moment, he gathered his words silently where she could see him until he finally spoke.

"You've caused quite a bit of trouble for us, haven't you?" he spoke to the still-unidentified woman. All the while, he tried to suppress his euphoria from a simple gaze to her face, which was even stronger now that he could see it all. "These doctors, with all their skill, with all of the machinery they have at their disposal, can find out exactly how long you've had brain damage, but they can't place a name to your face just yet. That's definitely going to be one of the first questions you're asked in interrogation, along with where those holocrons are hidden, I can tell you that much."

She stayed silent. Anakin didn't really expect her to be able to speak just yet; the medics only just discovered there was something wrong with her and haven't even been able to examine her while awake yet. Guess it's just sitting around staring at her until something resembling coherent language can be achieved. She was expected to be able to at least gesture when she needed something, but that's as far as it was supposed to go.

Lo and behold, she was able to meet those expectations. She held her hand flat and moved the index finger of her other hand around her palm. "Do you need something to write on?" She nodded in affirmation. "Can you write?" She shrugged her shoulders. "Okay. I'll be right back and we can find out together." Anakin was sure to keep his eyes on her for as long as possible as he turned away. No way he was going to be surprised by an injured woman in a ray-shield. Luckily, there was a pen and empty data-pad just by the door for him to take. It was supposed to be for him to record anything strange that his prisoner just so happened to do, but it can serve more than just one purpose.

He let the shield down to lay the pad on the woman's bed and situate her so she could use it without having to move too much on her own, then immediately put it back up. Almost instantly when Anakin sat back down, she started scribbling something. It was too early to tell what she was going to say and he never directly asked her questions about her identity or motives. He kept his eyes on her and noticed something; under the wide sleeves that the med-bay had for their patients, there were scars going all down her arm. They didn't look like she got them in any kind of struggle, some were older than others, but they were all clearly visible on her skin. He also remembered seeing on the report that there were injuries that he knew he couldn't have given her; a broken rib, bruises, things of that nature, as well as malnutrition.

Was she...?

It didn't matter, she was his enemy regardless of treatment. Although...

She held the data-pad toward him. Written in feminine yet messy handwriting was a simple question; _How long will you keep me here?_

"It's not my choice," he answered. "It's the council's. I doubt they'll just let you go once they get to speak with you." Once again, she took it back and began writing something else. She seemed to have gotten a grip on writing and was able to do so faster.

_What happens after that?_

"You're probably going to be locked up for breaking and entering and robbery, maybe they'd be marked as war-crimes. There's no telling for sure what's going to happen to you." It was growing clearer that she was afraid. War-crimes were no laughing matter when they were put on you, and chances are high that she'd either be executed or be locked away for many years. "Let me ask you something, now." She looked up at him with anticipation and got her pen in hand. "We're going to have to put your basic information in the archives. You'd probably have an easier time if you just gave it to me than if you struggled with everyone. I guess to make it even easier, I should just ask who sent you."

She wrote her answer a bit slower, though she had switched her hands. _My great-uncle_.

Anakin raised an eyebrow at her response. "Who's your great-uncle?"

_Count Jard Dooku._

* * *

"Are we absolutely sure that Dooku didn't have any siblings?" Anakin asked Obi-wan long after the mystery woman was asleep. He had questioned her a bit more concerning her strange answer until she said she was tired and fell asleep. Soon after, the older man came by for a report on her condition and any progressions or hindrances were found.

"Yes, Anakin. We're quite sure he was an only child."

"Then how is this his great-niece?"

"Adoption? It's not really traditional to be anything but the parent, but we couldn't find any papers if that's the case. Did you get her name?"

"I never asked, I knew she wouldn't tell anyway. It might be easier now that we know there's family ties, now."

"Assuming we can even find her in any records. Now we know she can at least communicate with us, so maybe this won't take as long as we thought."

"Actually, Master, I think she might need _more_ time than we initially thought." Obi-wan raised an eyebrow and Anakin continued. "I think she's being abused."

"What makes you think that?"

"Ahsoka and I didn't cause those injuries that were reported, nor did we starve her. Plus, s he has scars all over her arms and the medics reported seeing them on her thighs and torso, too, as well as assure us that the brain damage wasn't Ahsoka's doing."

"We'll keep that in mind, but it's not really enough to say without a doubt."

"It's just a theory, at the moment. If we keep her longer, she could open up and confess to it."

"I can't promise the council will be open to that proposal, but we'll see what we can do."

"You know they're just going to say 'no' before you finish explaining."

"Then that will be their answer. Anakin, we deal with abuse between masters and padawans all the time, but it can be very tricky to catch and prove."

"What's so complicated about being a witness? Or is watching someone be brutally assaulted suddenly not enough to call it abuse?"

"I suppose you have a plan to catch it then?"

"If I'm allowed to do it, than yes."

"Care to elaborate?"

"All I'm going to say is that I need time to get to her. Maybe when she's almost completely rehabilitated, I can act."

"They don't expect that to come around for another three-months. What are you going to do until then?"

"Just talk to her. If I can learn anything else that can convince me otherwise, I'll call this all off and we can interrogate her as we were going to."

"Alright. I'll see if they'll go along with this, but they _will_ ask you what you're planning."

"Fine by me. I should go back in there."

"I'll be sure to spread the word that she can communicate."

* * *

The next few weeks, Geneva stayed quiet to avoid giving away too much information. Skywalker looked bored out of his mind, which was a small bonus for him being inconvenienced, but she never used the data-pad unless she was asking for food or complaining of a headache. He'd occasionally bring up small conversation, which quickly died down and never came back up. She couldn't tell for sure, but it seemed almost as if he was trying to get close to her. She couldn't imagine why, especially given that they're enemies and could never develop any sort of companionship with one another. That all changed a little later on.

Geneva had taken her pain medicine for her headaches not long ago and still had water next to her. She would occasionally take a drink out of it if there was a lingering silence between the two. She also had the data-pad next to the glass for easy access whenever she just so happened to be asked something since her speech still wasn't perfect. Writing everything down was earlier than saying it out loud at the moment. Unfortunately, she received possibly the least expected question at the least convenient time.

"Tell me something," Anakin spoke to her as she brought the glass of water to her lips, "what's life like for you at home?" She started coughing as her body seemed to want to drown her. At least then she wouldn't have to face answering a Jedi with the harsh reality she dealt with. She had been beaten since she was four years old and it became physical not too long after, and was also told to keep it secret from anyone. It wouldn't surprise her if the council was told her brain-damage had been with her since a young age because, truth be told, she already knew it was. A bit more choking and coughing later and she answered him.

"What (do you) mean?" she asked, still unable to say every word she intended to.

"How does everyone treat you? What do you do at home? Things like that. What's it all like for you?" She set the glass down and grabbed the data-pad. At this point, if she spoke, she could tell something she'd regret. After all, if she reports anything resembling abuse or mistreatment to her enemies, they could try to get her away and then Great-uncle Jard would just kill her. She tried once before when she was still very young and still went to school away from home; it's what ended her in home-schooling and first initiated his light-saber going into her skull. She would have to be careful with her answer if she didn't want it to get any worse for her.

_I live a life of nobility and wealth. Sometimes I design the battle droids you fight, but it's quite droll most of the time._

"What about your great-uncle? What's that like for you?" What's with this guy and all the questions?

_He provides a home for me, what else could I say?_

"Maybe how he interacts with you? Is he nice to you? Or does he hurt you?" Her heart was pounding with anxiety. Good thing she was no longer hooked to the monitor, at least now she has a chance to hide it. As she wrote her reply, her hands trembled a bit and even twitched, causing her to erase and attempt to rewrite the word or letter with the mistake. It took a bit longer since she had to really think about what she was going to say, but she managed.

_He treats me fine. Why are you asking me these things?_

"I'm just curious," he shrugged. "I was wondering how you ended up with broken bones and scars when my padawan and I barely touched you." Oh, shit, he already knows.

* * *

Geneva vowed to not say anything else after nearly slipping up the first time. She would still talk to Anakin, just not about her life as a Separatist. No way was she going to tell him any more about Great-uncle Jard's discipline methods. Sure, they were unorthodox, but he only did it because he cared. No one else would dare hurt her to help her learn the way he did. She could wish he was gentler and that he acknowledged her whenever she attempted to get close to him beyond the war, but she was happy to serve him if it meant she could improve when she fails. Even when he said he'd kill her if she told anyone about the beating, she knew it was only because he didn't want to lose her in the world, unable to find her and bring her home.

One particular afternoon, Geneva noticed another member of the council arrive outside of her door as opposed to the one man. It was far too early for the report, which was quite puzzling for Geneva. As he normally did, Anakin arose from where he sat and met with them. She always wondered exactly what they discussed when she couldn't hear them. Although she normally slept when Anakin was giving a report and she was never really disturbed, she heard a lot of screaming going on. It was mostly from everyone else, though it was still unclear as to what they were really saying to him.

"Let her _**go**_? Are you crazy?" Questions of that nature were all that welcomed Anakin when he proposed his idea. He was going to allow the mystery woman to flee, but would keep a close eye on her and follow her. It would lead the Jedi to the stolen holocrons since she seemed to recede pretty quickly. On top of that, she still wasn't quite recovered from her injuries and still couldn't speak properly in an interrogation. It seemed like a better idea to let her run and track her movements as opposed to communicate when she still couldn't say a whole sentence without missing words or mixing up letters and sounds.

Though she couldn't hear much else, she managed to read their lips enough from the window to know about what they were saying.

"I know it sounds like a long-shot," Anakin argued, "but I feel like this is better than getting frustrated since she can't speak properly yet."

"You said she could write," Mace spoke up. "She can just do that when she can't bring herself to speak."

"If we let her write, she can put more thought into her wording, and she would have a chance to hide the answer better."

"We could still _get_ an answer."

"Because waiting for her to get the holocrons and stopping her from going back home is more time than pondering what she means when she talks her way around an answer. We could probably get to her before she even gets to a ship."

"And if we can't and she gets away? We lose so much valuable information to the hands of our enemy, lose the chance to gain information on a newly surfaced enemy, and allow the scales to tip in their favor."

"There's also the possibility that this can help us greatly. We can find out where the information is being hidden, learn more about this specific woman, and also possibly a myriad of information from this one person. There's risk, sure, but it can really be worth it." Mace held his index finger and thumb up to the bridge of his nose. He sighed and pinched his face before speaking once more.

"Just do what you want, it's going to happen anyway no matter what we say." He turned on his heel as he continued to grumble to himself about Anakin's rebelliousness.

* * *

"Anakin, is this about the abuse?" Obi-wan asked quietly once they were left alone. He nodded as they both turned away from her door.

"I'm going to give her a running start and follow her back home. If she _is_ being beaten at home, I'm bringing her back her with me."

"You know they're just going to send her away, right?"

"I'll fight for her, then. She'll go somewhere safer temporarily until she's allowed to stay here."

"What if she's not?"

"She _will_ be. If the council rejects her, I'm still going to stay with her and make sure she's okay."

"I'll stick with you as long as I can, then." He laid a hand on Anakin's shoulder kindly and said to him, "Don't do anything too stupid this time. The council already isn't happy with you on this, I'd hate to see this needlessly escalate." And then he, too, left him alone.

* * *

Geneva saw the Jedi return to her side with her light-saber on his hip and her clothing in his arms. He laid it all on the chair next to her as opposed to sitting in it wihtout giving her so much of a glance. He also walked to the door and kept it so it would stay open indefinitely. "I'm going to release you," he told her. Was this guy serious? He's just going to let her run away no questions asked? Was he even on the Republic's side for doing this? "You're going to run free, and I recommend you go straight home. However, I want you to remember one thing before I do."

"What (would) that be?" she asked in response.

"Dooku doesn't care about you. At all. He doesn't hurt you to make you a better person or whatever else you may think, he hurts you because he feels powerful from it. If you make a mistake and he 'punishes' you for it, it's because it hurts him or his ego in the grand scheme of things. If you have even the slightest bit of doubt and agree with me in some way, you need to run away before he hurts you anymore than he already does."

"You don't (know) him the (way) I do."

"Just remember what I said." He pressed a button on the wall and the ray-shield instantly vanished. For a moment, she stayed in the bed. "Go on," he encouraged her as he nodded towards the door. "The guards already know not to stop you as long as you just go."

Geneva, still hesitant, grabbed her clothing and stepped towards the doorway. As she moved and noticed that Skywalker was serious, she hastened her pace, and soon vanished into the hallway.


	3. Chapter 3

Just as Skywalker had told her, none of the guards so much as looked at her as she ran to the streets. None of the guards so much as glanced at her as she walked away and eventually walked away from the building. She found herself constantly looking over her shoulder, but saw nothing to convince her that Skywalker was lying when he told her she was free to go. She soon ran to the streets to blend in and branch off to get back into her clothing, then she wandered to find a ship she could use. She would need one since the one she originally used was likely gone by this point.

Finally, she came across an abandoned vessel that looked as if it could get her to Serenno without falling apart. Lucky for her, it was also close to where her satchel with the holocrons was hidden. She made sure to keep it out of reach and sight of nearly everyone, from the common street beggar to even a sharp-eyed Jedi. As she crept around in the alley where the holocrons were hidden, she kept her sights on the ship to make absolute sure it would be secure for her. Luckily, nobody was near it when she was set to head towards it and leave.

Fortunately for her, there was a communicator built into the console. She lost hers once she was caught and never got it back; more than likely, it broke when she fell over. As long as it was a way to call Great-uncle Jard and explain herself, it was acceptable. All she hoped was that he would understand her prolonged absence. If she knew anything from her childhood, it was that Great-uncle Jard rarely accepted excuses where failure was concerned. No doubt he would discipline her thoroughly, but maybe an explanation would lessen the blow on her.

His image appeared within moments, though he was far from pleased to see him. _"Where have you been, child?"_ he shouted to her. _"Where is your communicator?"_

"It's unusable," she answered with a tremor in her voice. "My position has been compromised and my identity has been discovered, sir. I must return home immediately."

_"What do you mean you're returning home? I have not granted you permission!"_

"N-no, sir, you haven't. However, I won't be able to return for more information. I can't stay here any longer." His image sighed a deep breath as he tried to compose himself.

_"I will allow you to return to_ _Serenno." _Geneva was relieved by his words. _"However," _he continued, tensing Geneva back up, _"you will bring me the holocrons and report to the Room immediately upon your arrival."_

The Room...

It echoed throughout Geneva's mind. It was where all of her disciplinary action took place, be it a recording constantly remind her of her nonexistent worth, being tied down to accept whatever pain will be inflicted on her, or some strange man that Great-uncle Jard paid to strip any remaining innocence she had left. Many versions of the Room existed; there was one in their manor and another for every ship and station under Great-uncle Jard's control. The very idea sent shivers down her spine. The memories of the actions that took place there sent her heart racing and her chest heaving for air.

"I'll ...do as you ask...sir..." she nervously answered. "I should be there in a matter of hours." His small image disappeared to leave her to her thoughts.

Just before she shuttle took off, Anakin finally found a comfortable position to last him the flight. As far as he knew, the mystery woman had no idea he was on board. He hoped to keep it that way through the entire flight. For some reason, he felt completely anxious, despite believing without a doubt that he would get caught. It was strange that he was so afraid for no reason, but he decided to ignore it. There was no point in pondering such a small inconvenience when he had a job to do; get back the lost information and potentially save an innocent woman from domestic violence.

* * *

It took a good while of staring into the darkness around him for Anakin to actually feel the ship land and hear the mystery woman walk off of it. He gave her some time to get ahead of him before following behind her since he didn't to be so close. About ten minutes after he heard her steps approach and disappear, Anakin finally crept out of his hiding spot and followed where he imagined she went. As soon as he walked outside and witnessed the structure the mystery woman entered, he instantly knew where he had ended up, though it wasn't a surprise to him; he was at Count Dooku's mansion.

A tremor ran up his spine, but he continued. The halls were long and winding, which made navigation a bit difficult, but he managed to stay out of sight. It definitely helped that not many droids were used for security, so there wasn't much surveillance. Using the Force to guide him to where he could find the mystery woman, he soon found that she was, in fact, going towards his direction. Fortunately, he hid away in an empty hallway before she found him in her way, though she seemed quite distraught. Once she passed a ways ahead, he followed her further and saw her enter a lone room. He only saw a glimpse of the inside when she hastily entered, but found it was completely dark and shadows lined the walls and fell from the ceiling.

Just as he was about to settle in front of the door, he heard more footsteps approach. Once again, he got out of sight before he was found. This time, however, the source of the sound was the count, himself. Unlike the mystery woman, he seemed to suspect Anakin was nearby and paused outside of the doorway. Anakin hid away further to prevent confrontation, and Dooku simply entered the room a moment of skepticism later. Once he was sure he was alone, Anakin set up devices to listen in and possibly see what was going on beyond the doorway.

* * *

Geneva sat in the Room, mortified, staring her angered great-uncle in his fiery eyes. She only feared what was in store for her. Would he break her limbs? Tie her down and leave her alone until she nearly dies only to save her at the last minute and leave her once more? Reaffirm her worthlessness with solitary confinement and an intercom telling her everything that's wrong with her? The tension and anxiety alone was torture for her. As he stepped closer to her, she could feel her chest grow tighter and her heart pounding faster and faster. When he finally stopped, he was behind her.

"Do you know why you're here?" he asked her quietly. She shuddered at the menacing breath on her neck. "Answer me, girl," he growled with an hand coiling around her neck and grasping tightly, "do you know why you're here?"

"I-i-I failed my objective?" she answered with uncertainty. "And I disobeyed your orders?"

"You also brought shame to my name. I got the best trainers for you, made sure you kept to your studies, gave you simple tasks for the war efforts, and provided you with a home. With me, you're nothing. Without me, you're even less. When _you_ fail, it reflects onto _me_. Do you know what I'm going to do to you?"

"No, sir, I don't." His fingers tightened slightly, as did Geneva's entire body.

"But you do know. Say it."

"You're going to punish me for my wrong-doings?"

"Maybe you're not so incompetent." She tensed herself more and more in preparation for the suffering she was to take. Not even seconds later, she felt her neck burn with the sudden blast of lightning to her throat. She screamed in agony until, finally, it ceased and she fell to the floor, unable to properly catch her breath. "Clothing," he asserted as he stood above her. "Give them here." When she gained the strength, she met eyes with him; he held a hand out to her, gesturing for what he demanded from her. Seeing no other option, she weakly stripped herself and handing the clothing off to him.

Once she was bare, nothing left but the thin wrap she used as underwear, she tried to cover herself with her arms. Her eyes were averted away from him in terror and shame at her actions and nude body. Once again, she was shocked. She felt the pain pulsate throughout her body and lick up her nerves, her muscles all tighten at once, and her skin charring. She was thrown back when it suddenly stopped, and she was levitated into the air by her throat. She clawed at her throat to realize there was no hand on her. Only then she realized Great-uncle Jard was holding her with the force.

"You aren't allowed to cover yourself," he told her. "You accept your punishments, girl." He released her, letting her fall to the floor with air struggling to stay in her lungs. With her clothing in hand, he turned on his heels and walked out of the room. "You stay here until I allow you to leave,"he growled just outside of the door. Light poured in, but then vanished as soon as Geneva was left alone. Her eyes were watering, almost overflowing with pain and air finally returning to her normally. At least it could have been worse for her...

...much worse

* * *

For a second, Anakin worried he was caught. He was worried the pain fit he had just had would have been the death of him, but, fortunately for him, the pain subsided somewhat and Dooku kept walking when he left the room rather than linger around near him. It was strange that he took a moment to look like he was speaking with someone, but he left fairly quickly. Once he was sure the Count was far enough away, he walked out in front of the door to the room. No way he was leaving her alone like this, the council would just have to deal with her being in the temple until they decide where she goes. No one deserved what she was getting.

One more quick glance and he went inside to see her sprawled out on the floor. From all the times he had seen her fight him with a determined and confident aura, staged or not, he never would have been able imagine the image of her nearly nude, trembling, and unable to snap herself back to reality had he never seen it. He approached her, though stayed cautious in case she screamed and attracted any unwanted attention. Fortunately for him, she stayed quiet, but it was hard to tell if she was even breathing. A few more seconds of watching her closely answered that question.

"Hey," he whispered to her as he lightly touched her back, "wake up." She jolted awake, screaming incoherently to him.

"Please, don't hurt me!" she screamed as she cowered away. He watched as she breathed heavily for a moment, then she opened an eye to gaze at him. "Oh, it's you," she spoke again, this time more calmly and a bit confused. "What are you doing here?"

"I kinda suspected things weren't alright for you here, even if you'd tell me otherwise. I'm taking you back to the temple."

"What?" It was obvious she was terrified beyond measure, even without reading her through the Force. "No, I can't leave this room. Great-uncle Jard told me I need to stay."

"What's he going to do if you try to leave?"

"His guards outside will call him back and he'll just beat me more."

"Guards? What guards?"

"The ones outside the door. Did they not see you?"

"There weren't any guards there."

"Yes there are! The last time I tried to escape, they threw me back in and called Great-uncle Jard back here."

"Then how did I get in?" She stopped right there and thought for a moment. "When was the last time you tried to escape, anyway?"

"When I was about seven-years-old. From that point on, I stayed here like I was told."

"There might have been guards outside at some point, but they're gone now."

"No, they're not! I know they're not! He told me himself!"

"Come on, I'll prove it." He moved closer to her with his arms outstretched, but she pulled away before he could touch her.

"What are you doing?"

"Taking you outside," he continued, inching closer to her and grabbing her upper arm. "If there's people there, like you said, I'll just put you back here and run."

"What? No, I can't go out! I have to stay here and accept my punishment!" While she thrashed at him and screamed in panic, he pulled her to her feet. He clasped his hand over her lips to keep her somewhat quiet and to avoid Dooku returning, then guided her to the door. Still, she screamed and struggled against him in a futile attempt to get away. The door swished open and he walked through with the mystery woman still trying to get away. With a few more steps, he spoke to her once more. "See? I told you there wasn't anyone here."

* * *

Uncle Jard lied to her?

Pain was one thing, it was only because he cared enough to scold her physically, but _lies_? Why? What purpose did it serve for him? She was loyal regardless, she knew the punishment if she dared to disobey. And now, so did Skywalker. Why was he trying to help her anyway? She didn't need help, she needed to stay in place and do as she was told. It was the only way she knew for Great-uncle Jard to leave her alone. It was the only way he _allowed _for her to be left alone. She disobeyed his orders, so she needed to be punished; why was this Jedi trying to interfere with that.

* * *

Anakin guided the mystery woman with the help of the Force. She was still clearly panicked, and he tried convincing her to stay closer to him. Many times, he questioned if what he was doing was right, only to reach the conclusion over and over again that she's better off within the Jedi Temple than here on Serenno with Dooku. Sure, the council could be a bit unreasonable, but never to the point of physical violence like this.

Every turn they took was a gamble; would something be ready to attack them on the other side, or would they be safe to tread. Fortunately, the walk was clear, with the exception of a few backtracks. The two were out of the manor within an hour and on their way to a more secure location. They ended up having to tread through foliage, but neither of them minded.

Suddenly, there was a faint, distant whirring sound. "Hang on," he told her as he stopped where he stood. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" she asked quietly. He listened a bit closer and realized he recognized the sound. It almost sounded like it was getting louder... _closer_...

"It kind of sounds like—" Anakin was cut off by the sound of the woman screaming in pain. He watched as she fell to her knees—or _knee_, in her case—and a red light began spinning away from them. Strangely enough, he also felt the sting of her injury as she fell to the soft soil. He knew Dooku was harsh on her, but he never expected him to go as far as slicing off one of her limbs.

There was no time to dwell, however, if the count was able to dismember a limb without them seeing him, Anakin knew he couldn't be too far. He knelt down to the woman and lifted her into his arms, careful of the sensitive scars all over her body, and not to hurt the new wound she acquired. She wasn't bleeding, but too much agitation would leave a trail. Hesitantly, she clung to his shoulders and he sped off in a sprint. The wetness in the crook of his neck told him the woman was in tears, now, though not surprising given the pain and fear she was bound to be feeling.

It wasn't long before the panic subsided and Anakin sighed in relief as they felt they were in the clear. They found a small spot where they could settle their nerves for a moment, but Anakin knew they'd have to leave again pretty quickly. He set the mystery woman down carefully to look at her wound, but she seemed to want to hide it.

"You have to let me see how bad it is," he told her. "Otherwise, I can't get any help for you when we get back."

"My leg is gone," she answered tearfully. "I think you already know."

"I don't know how much of it. If you let me see it, they could have a prosthetic ready for you almost right away." Hesitantly, she complied.

* * *

The last thing Geneva wanted was someone messing with her after her leg fell off. She needed to go home, for her own safety, not back to the enemy. Why was she even considering moving on with this idea? She was going to get _killed_ if she continued running, let alone associating herself in this way with a Jedi.

Most of her left thigh was severed, but the discolored lines near her hip were almost completely untouched. The pain subsided when they were running, but it still stung with the heat. The second he touched her flesh, her remaining leg hid it away. It wasn't even that his touch was hostile, the idea that a man as large as Skywalker touching her thigh that high up while she was almost completely bare in the middle of nowhere brought back harsh memories. It was almost instinct to recede in such a way.

He gave her a look. This is it, she thought, this stranger was going to split her open by force and take advantage of the situation. He was going to use her for his own sick fantasies, just as every other man Great-uncle Jard hired would do. This was all some elaborate ruse just to get her out of the manor and away from anyone who could get him off of her. Skywalker didn't care about _her_, he only wanted her for himself. She cowered her sights away in fear. She didn't want to see it happen, feeling it would be enough Hell to go through.

"I understand," he told her as he put his flesh hand on top of her head, "you've been through a lot. You'll just have to be more compliant with the medics, then."

He... _wasn't _going to punish her for disobeying him?

* * *

Moments later, with the mystery woman back in his arms, he kept walking. She didn't so much as scared, now, just confused. At least she wasn't crying anymore; though, what was so hard to fathom about someone deciding to help when you're in trouble? Clearly, Dooku wasn't a loving parental figure, but she seemed to feel differently. He couldn't help but wonder... why?

Just as he started to tire himself out and his legs grew sore, he decided to try and turn around and steal a ship. He seemed to be the only one who knew of the change since the mystery woman gave no protest. It was more ideal this way since he would be getting past the count much easier. The manor wasn't far, nor was it too complicated since their path was very straight-forward, they just hoped they could still proceed without being caught.

Once the manor was in sight, it seemed the mystery woman relaxed a bit. "I'm going back home?" she asked him.

"No, we're grabbing a ship." Just like that, she was tense with anxiety once again.

"Great-uncle Jard won't like that."

"Great-uncle Jard doesn't get a say in the matter."

"No, you don't understand, I need to go back home." Her voice was far more panicked, even if still relatively quiet.

"Why?"

"He'll kill me if I run away."

"He'll have to get to you first." She breathed heavily in silence for a moment, gasped deeply, then started to scream. In a hurry and without thinking, he covered her mouth. "Shh, be quiet," he hastily whispered. She didn't silence herself even a little, but she was at least muffled. Figuring there wasn't much he could do, as well as noticing there wasn't much hazard in his wake, Anakin made a break for it.

As fast as he could, he ran back to the manor where he found the ship they used still in its place. The mystery woman still screamed, presumably to alert others of their presence, but they managed to creep by without issue regardless. Not a single person or security droid saw them as Anakin walked them both onto the ship.

He laid her in the co-pilot's seat just as she finished screaming. "Are you done, yet?" he asked.

"Please, you need to let me go home," she pleaded. "I can't leave without permission."

"You have _my_ permission to run away." She stayed quiet. "Look, I know you're terrified of your great-uncle, but you shouldn't be if he actually cared. If he _really_ wanted what was best for you, he'd be more lenient with you and wouldn't want to hurt you every time you do something that inconveniences him. It's not normal, especially not for family."

Geneva refused to believe Skywalker, Great-uncle Jard loved her and cared for her dearly. "What do you mean it's not normal?"

"People don't give their relatives brain-damage. Or threaten to kill them in earnest. Or convince them they have no worth. He doesn't really care if that's how he treats you."

"He just wants me to show my worth before I get what I want."

"So he restricts your food and water whenever you do something that you probably can't do to the fullest? Trust me, that's not a normal, healthy relationship between relatives. If he _really_ cared about you, he wouldn't try to kill you."

"Says the guy who just kidnapped me."

"Have I done anything to hurt or devalue you in any way?"

"My leg got amputated when you were dragging me away."

"That wasn't my light-saber that did it. Do you know whose it was?" She nodded hesitantly. It was Great-uncle Jard's, she even saw the hilt for a moment before she fell. He seemed to be onto something, but it just couldn't be true. "Listen to me," he spoke as he put a hand on her shoulder, "I know the difference between family love and abuse, I've experienced them both. What you have living here is abuse."

"That can't be true," she answered, shaking her head in doubt.

"It is. I'm so sorry you've had to deal with it for so long, but I'm here to take you from it before it gets worse for you. I'm going to take you to the temple and we can figure it out from there. They can also get the medics to treat your leg and any other problems they find." She nodded sadly. "Wait here." Skywalker went to the rear part of the shuttle and left her alone. He wasn't gone for long and returned with a bundle of fabric.

"What's that?" she asked.

"I brought a cloak when I left, I figured the trip would be a bit long and it can work pretty nice as a blanket." It unfolded and the bottom landed on the floor. Skywalker wrapped it around her, even putting her arms through the sleeves. "Chances are, we'll be going onto a cruiser before we get to Coruscant, might as well make sure you're covered up a little."

She pulled it around her a little more to try and close it up around her. Meanwhile, Skywalker got in the pilot's seat and prepared the ship to take off. She watched as his fingers moved expertly around on the controls. The engines began to roar as the ship lifted itself from the ground. He seemed to move quicker than anyone normally would, but he probably figured Great-uncle Jard was not far behind after all of the noise.

Once they were in space, they were quiet once more. Occasionally, Skywalker would ask her to press a button on her panel, but otherwise they were silent. Geneva sat with her arms wrapped around her legs and her chin on her knees, quietly, until she decided to try and talk with him. "So, Skywalker..."

"Anakin," he corrected her. "Call me Anakin."

"Okay. So, Anakin..."

"Yes?"

"I've been thinking a lot about this, but..." He cocked an eyebrow at her to continue. "How did you know what was going on with me?"

"I was stuck with you in the med-bay for quite a while. Things just slowly become more noticeable at a point."

"And how did you know for sure it was abuse?"

"I didn't, honestly. It was just a strong suspicion. I know I had a lot of these feelings you probably have now for quite a while and just sort of guessed."

"Oh." From there, the two were in pure silence until the cruiser was in sight.

* * *

What was going to happen to her?

First, this guy tells her she's being abused at home, and then he tells her she's going to be treated as a prisoner? For now, she decided to stay silent and accept whatever was happening. If she _was_ just a prisoner, she determined how much she would suffer, how much they would make her hurt, perhaps even how long she stays their prisoner. Maybe she wasn't even really a prisoner. Maybe they were even hired by Great-uncle Jard for another obedience lesson; Anakin tried swaying her opinions by telling her she's in a bad situation all to see if she'll still be with Great-uncle Jard. Of course she's still loyal to the man who allows her a home and food when she behaves herself.

Soon enough, they'll send her back home and tell her she passed. She might get scolded for running, but she stayed with Great-uncle Jard. He'd probably reward her for her dedication. After all, he amputated her leg, even if it was an accident. It had to have been an accident; he only meant to scare her and make her believe he missed Anakin when he was taking her away. It _was_ from a far distance, after all. It was to show her that he cared enough about her to _try_ and save her when someone was kidnapping her. All she needed was to wait for them to say it was time to go home.

She sat quietly in the cell while Anakin and two others talked a small distance away. She couldn't see them since they were off to the side enough for the wall to block them from her vision, but she could somewhat hear their voices. Two guards stood outside of the cell with blasters held ready in case she tried to escape. She wouldn't try, however; she knew she could easily, but she didn't want to in case Great-uncle Jard _wanted _her to stay put. She needed to please him and do what he wanted before doing what _she_ wanted.

* * *

"Nineteen-_years_! Anakin, she's still going to obey him! Who knows how many times he's had to force her into submission?"

"If we give her enough time, she'll realize her independence. We just have to be patient with her."

"Says the impulsive idiot who never waits for clear instructions before jumping into battle," Ahsoka mumbled off to the side of Obi-wan and Anakin's argument.

"I'm not disagreeing with you that she needs help, Anakin, believe me when I say I'm on your side with this. I'm only saying that maybe this is out of our hands. She doesn't need the Republic, or even the Jedi, to take her away, but someone who is already willing to keep her from the count."

"Like who? People either idolize him too much to believe he can do no wrong or aren't Separatists. There's not much of an option. Besides, he has enough power to either manipulate people into giving her back or taking her back by force. She'll be safer in Coruscant than anywhere else we can throw her. Hell, any other planet she could possibly go won't be safe since there's _always _a way to get past security."

"I'll get the council to _consider _it. I will make no promises, but we can probably work _something _out for her."

"That's all we need, even if it's just throwing her somewhere and having people go to check on her every once in a while."

"What about the holocrons?" Ahsoka jumped in. "Are those still gone?"

"They're somewhere in the manor," Anakin answered, "but I have no idea where or how we can get to them."

"Well, we have someone here who does." She gestured towards the mystery woman behind the ray-shield keeping her captive, still unnamed and refusing to give an identity. "Maybe it'll help the council's decision if she guides us."

"Maybe," Obi-wan agreed. "We'll have to convince her somehow."

"We can get her to map it out if she won't come with us," Anakin explained, "She knows the place down to patrol schedules and locks, we can make it work if she stays."

"A choice isn't a good idea just yet, but having her give information for a stealth mission _would_ be useful." After a few seconds of thought, Obi-wan spoke up once more and broke the short silence.

"I'll stay here with her and call the council with the situation, you two go down and get the holocrons back."


	4. Chapter 4

In the end, Anakin and Ahsoka left without the unnamed woman. They thought it better to use her time on the cruiser to get a temporary prosthetic until they were able to get a more permanent fixture, as well as to keep her from running back to Dooku's arms and exposing them. She was too much of a liability at the moment for them to take with her, especially with her new handicap and old traumatic branding. She would be fitted for a temporary limb while Anakin and Ahsoka were gone down below with whatever information they managed to persuade her to provide. Fortunately, it seemed as though it would be plenty; detailed descriptions of locations and directions, exact times of guard droid rotations, and every security code they would need.

They went alone, just the two of them and no extra assistance. It wouldn't be needed for a simple stealth mission where it was probably for the best to have as few people as possible. As it was, just the two of them made it almost too risky for them to want to try. Fortunately, the security code to enter and guard schedule around the door and down the hallways at the start was accurate and they were, fortunately, far from getting caught. The information provided to them stated that the satchel with the holocrons would be in a safe in the study, where the two experienced their first issue: the study was occupied and the safe too far to go without being seen.

"What now?" Ahsoka whispered as they two knelt in front of the door.

"We have to wait," he told her. "There's no other way."

"We'll get caught."

"Not if we're careful enough. We just have to hide somewhere and wait him out"

"She didn't tell us where we could hide."

"She didn't tell us a lot of things, Ahsoka. That doesn't mean it's not possible." From where they stayed, Anakin panned the surrounding area in a partially desperate search for a place they can stay hidden. They could try the vents above, but any noise they made would be amplified and they'd get caught. There were a few closets and small rooms close by, but a similar problem presented itself with the noise of the doors. "I think we're going to have to backtrack and wait for him to pass us."

"What? We don't even know if he _will_ pass us."

"No, but it's our best bet, at the moment. We can hide in a room far enough away that he won't hear us and we can wait him out from there."

"If we die, I'm blaming you."

"Fair enough." He gestured fro her to follow him and they wandered the halls. Soon, they found a room with few guards, close to where Anakin found the mystery woman not long before. It almost didn't match the rest of the building; there were screams through the Force, no doubt the mystery woman's. This area was likely where she normally stayed given the aura of terror around them. At the very least, it was where she stayed while being beaten. The one room they stuck themselves in was most likely her bedroom, with a lone mattress draped with a raged sheet on one end and a small closet filled with a few rags that were poorer quality than even the homeless on the other.

"I take it this is our new friend's room?"

"It looks like it."

"From what you were telling us, I was expecting chains to be hanging from the ceiling."

"Honestly, from what I _heard _between them, so was I." He walked over to the door and held an ear against it to listen for the count.

"Think we should grab her some clothing?"

"Maybe a set, she'll need some for the trip. If we see it, we'll grab her lightsaber, too. She'll nee it if she's going to come with us."

"It's probably with the holocrons. He wouldn't expect her to go in there unless he was with her...at least, not with how he's treated her."

"We'll just have to see. We won't have a lot of time to look if it's not." While Ahsoka shuffled behind him, Anakin listened closely to the hallways and kept his senses on the study. He didn't hear anything come near them, though he also didn't sense any opportunity to sneak back towards the holocrons. Once Ahsoka gathered a small stack of clothing, she huddled close to Anakin to patiently wait with him.

"It's chilling, isn't it?" she asked quietly.

"You hear the screams, too?" She nodded.

"As far back as children."

"Child. It's all just her."

"What did he put her through all this time?" she asked, shaking her head in disbelief.

"I don't think we want to know, Snips."

* * *

In her tiny cell, protected from the heavily armed and intimidatingly stiff clones, a medical droid examined Geneva's wounded leg with great care. Master Kenobi stood in the cell, close to the door, with his arms crossed and one hand on his beard. She stayed quiet in case he wanted information from her, but he seemed to pay her little attention while the droid poked and prodded at her injury. Occasionally, she would flinch and he would glance at her to make sure she was well, but he mostly stared blankly at the wall. What was he planning? Was he going to hurt her when they returned to the temple? Was he going to keep her as a prisoner?

Once the droid had completed its work and left to gather a temporary prosthesis for her, tension between herself and Master Kenobi skyrocketed. He stayed where he was in the corner, as opposed to leaving her alone to rest, presumably as a fail-safe to keep her from running away, but he also gave her strange glances. Unwittingly, she began to conceal herself in Anakin's cloak in embarrassment.

"I didn't mean to stare," he told her. "It just fascinates me."

"What fascinates you?" she asked in response.

"How dedicated someone can be to someone who only brings them suffering."

"If you're referring to Great-uncle Jard, he doesn't bring me suffering."

"Oh? Then what does he bring you?"

"Discipline."

"Discipline?" he asked with confusion. "Please, explain."

"What's there to explain? I do something wrong and I get punished, simple as that."

"What about when you do right?"

"I'm rewarded."

"With what?"

She shrugged, and answered, "Clothing, food, the privilege of sleeping inside, being allowed to stop training while I'm still able to walk, the usual rewards."

"Anakin was right. That isn't normal treatment for a parent figure to give someone."

"How would you know?" she snarled. From what she's studied of the Jedi, attachment was forbidden, so who was this member of the Jedi High Council to tell her _anything_ about how Great-uncle Jard should have raised her?

"I've been in a similar position. Twice. From both sides. It's not too of the realm of possibility that you've heard of the attachment rule that Jedi have, but masters tend to develop a parental bond with their padawans. It's _heavily_ frowned upon and even _i___llegal__ for treatment like this to go on in normal society, let alone among student and teacher pairs."

"Not everyone raises children the same way. His ways are just different from what you've seen." From there, he seemed to give up. He didn't argue anything else with her and he didn't question her discipline any further. Instead, he just sighed to himself and surrendered quietly. It had appeared to Geneva that she had won the dispute. Though, even in her triumph over this stranger, she began to further question Great-uncle Jard. There was a possibility that he _was_ abusing her, a possibility that she had been manipulated into believing otherwise, but was it true? Disobedient or not, he kept her around for some reason, but she dared not believe it was to be his punching bag.

Although... it could be true...

He could have lied about caring for her. Perhaps he took her out of school at the first sign of question from others because he cared about _his_ image and not her education as he so often told her. Maybe her "discipline" very well could have been torture for not living up to his outrageous standards of strength and perfection he had laid down for her once she began her training. Likely that he lied about caring for her and only wanted the best for her only to use her for is own diabolical means in the war. Seemingly, her name might not even be Geneva Voryne, and her family may not have died in the genocide of what she was told was her home.

Could it be so?

* * *

While it took hours for the two to be able to get to the study undetected, it was quite simple from that point on. They decided upon entering the room that Anakin would keep watch for trouble while Ahsoka gathered the holocrons. Anakin held his hilt, but did not activate the blade since they wanted as little noise as possible while they still weren't noticed. Fortunately, it seemed that the mystery woman genuinely gave them proper information as opposed to trying to trick them into a trap. Perhaps her loyalties were beginning to waver and she was truly starting to believe them about her lifetime of abuse.

Once the safe containing the information was almost opened the two felt a troubling presence through the Force. The two grew tense as the presence seemed to grow closer towards them, and they realized what was approaching. "Hurry up, Snips," Anakin hissed at her anxiously as he stepped backwards away from the door. "We need to get out of here. __Fas___t_."

"I'm going as fast as I can," she whispered back in agitation.

"Snips, we're running out of time."

"I'm almost in, Master. Just a few more numbers to punch in."

"He's almost here, Ahsoka." There was an audible click that echoed the room, making the two jump with the sudden noise. Almost instantly, the door to the safe swung open to reveal its contents. The bag containing the holocrons was the largest thing inside, but there was also a small pile of ragged clothes, a lightsaber that definitely wasn't the count's, and a pair of boots. No doubt that all of the clothing and lightsaber was the stranger's, exactly where they anticipated her dear old great-uncle would have kept them out of her reach.

"Alright, that's it."

"Grab the bag and let's get out of here." She grabbed the contents of the safe, only for them to come across another problem.

"What's the escape plan?" she asked him. He remained silence, an omen of trouble when time was of the essence. "Master? What's our next step?"

"I... I have no idea."

"You didn't think of one in case this happened?!"

"I thought this would be quicker! We had a plan laid out for us up to this point."

"She didn't give us an escape, that was our job." He panned around the room in search of a single saving grace. He already threw out the vents, the door was out of the question, and hiding in the room was far too risky. All that remained was the window behind the desk. It would serve its purpose and get them out quickly, but they would leave an obvious sign of their presence in the building. They still needed to run a fair distance to their ship that they hid in the foliage, meaning he could stop them before they get off of his manor's land."Master, we need to get out. Now."

He took a deep breath, grabbed her wrist, and they both ran as fast as they could. Seconds before impact, his arm stretched out in front of them and shattered the window into thousands of small pieces of glass. The stained glass shard scattered around them as they plunged themselves out of the study and towards the exterior of the planet.

* * *

It wasn't true.

It couldn't be true.

Great-uncle Jard took her in. He raised her. He disciplined her when she did wrong. He gave her use towards his goals. How could he possibly hate her? How could it have all been a lie? He loved her, he had to, he just _had _to. She was his only niece, the only living relative they knew of. How could he hate her? What could she _possibly _have done to make him feel this way? She's done nothing but show her love of him and do whatever he needed her to do. Did she ever hurt him? Was she too needy as an infant? Why would he abuse her?

Maybe...

Maybe it wasn't her. Maybe it was a reminder of his strength and experience outweighing hers. Maybe he was simply reminding her of who was in charge between the two of them. He was always controlling, always assertive of his strength, so what if it got extreme from time to time? She's a troubled child, a disobedient little girl, she needed to be scolded and told who her superior was. He always told her so, thus it must have been true. There's no way he could have lied to her, not about how he cared for her and how he loved her dearly. He _did_ care, it's why he hurt her.

It was the Jedi. They were the ones who was mistaken. From what she was told not long ago, Jedi break their own rules, so how could she trust them to even know Great-uncle Jard's way of showing affection? The didn't know, they _couldn't_ know. It might be a scheme just to get her on their side. She was already their prisoner, they only need to break her. She wasn't going to fall for it, Great-uncle Jard worked too hard to teach her to be better than that. She just needed to stay strong and endure whatever they tried until she was able to break free and return home. Maybe he'd even decide to rescue her and show the Jedi they were wrong. There's no way they'd listen to her, but maybe they'd see different if _he _told them.

Then again, something fairly similar happened to her one and only friend not too long ago. She was in a position where she was caught and in need of his assistance, even begging for him to help, and he turned a blind eye to her and let her die. What if he did the same thing to Geneva and let the Jedi do whatever they pleased with her? Does it change anything if she's family? If he has an obligation to keep her safe as her legal guardian, would he dare ignore it and allow her to possibly be tortured and even killed at the possibility of spilling his deepest secrets of the war?

Maybe her knowledge would be his incentive of rescuing him. Not even his master would let him lose such a valuable asset with such priceless information... at lest, not that easily. Once he found out she was in danger and unable to free herself, he would rush to her aid and take her home. Sure, Great-uncle Jard might be immensely upset with her for allowing a Jedi to take her in the first place, no doubt she would be further disciplined once he brought her home, but it would show the Jedi that they were wrong and had no idea what they were saying about him.

But... if he did...

... would he not have come sooner?

* * *

As soon as the doors to their shuttle opened to the interior of their cruiser, the two ran towards the cells where they could meet with Obi-wan and possibly speak with the mystery woman further. The two never stopped and they sped as if they were still in danger of being chased by the count, even with the number of men around them, all of whom gave strange looks towards the pair, who would definitely put up a fight. Granted, it probably would not have been a very long fight, but the men would have put themselves of the defensive for the two.

It was a quicker sprint to the prison block than expected. Obi-wan wasn't visible, but they expected him to be in the cell with the mystery woman to try and get basic information about her, as well as watch over her while the medical droid was inspecting her. As they slowed to a walk, the elder emerged from inside of the cell and approached them. They were a small way off from the mystery woman's cell, far enough that she wouldn't hear any delicate information if they were quiet enough but close enough that they could stop her from running away.

"You got the holocrons?" Obi-wan asked them. Ahsoka held up the satchel that held what they hoped was what they were looking for.

"They should be in here," she answered as she handed the satchel off to him.

"What's in the other bag?" he asked as he took it.

"We grabbed a few thing for our little friend," Anakin answered. "Clothes, mostly. And her lightsaber."

"Anakin, I don't think she's coming to the temple with us."

"Where else is she supposed to go? If we leave her on some random planet, she'll just be brought back. Hell, Coruscant as a whole might not even the best place for her. She'll at least have protection at the temple."

"It's up for discussion, right now. We can keep her for a night, if that, but we will need to decide what to permanently do with her."

"I can take her and put her somewhere. She might be fine as long as someone watches her closely."

"Are you volunteering?"

"Are you objecting?"

"Not necessarily. You'll need permission before you follow her around."

"How about I just follow her around since she needs someone keeping her away from the hazard that will come with her being away from home? If I actually decide to _ask_ and _wait_ for an answer, she'll be long gone."

"I can tell them you're already out watching over her, but you are coming straight back if they order you to."

"Only if they have a replacement."

"They most likely will already have the idea."

"You really think that?"

* * *

It took a little less than an hour for Anakin to debate with the council about keeping Geneva around while she and Ahsoka stayed outside together. Geneva didn't even pay attention to what was going on around her anymore, all she knew is she wasn't home anymore and she couldn't even tell if that was a good or bad thing. The more she remembered about her childhood, the more she could see the Jedi's points of view. All of the times she had been damaged, all of the scars as reminders of when she punished herself, all of her permanent harm that could not be fixed from her "lessons", maybe she suffered for reasons outside of love. Perhaps all she had been told about how Great-uncle Jard cared about her was all lies to ensure she stayed loyal. Even the day he dragged her from school seemed unrealistic if she was considering parental care as his goal.

_"A few of the other students notice bruises and scars on your child," she heard her teacher tell him while she sat outside of the room. "She even seems more distant the more we try to talk to her, and we've also noticed she refuses to eat at times."_

_"I can assure you, Geneva is safe with me. No harm comes to her and I give her the best care possible."_

_"Please, understand, we're only concerned for the safety of all of the students here. It's also our job to inform authorities of any suspicions of mistreatment. You must mean well for her, we believe that entirely after all she's gone through as an infant, but we have called child safety. They should be here to talk to you both soon."_

_"I assure you, it's unnecessary."_

_"Regardless, It's only our..." The teacher's voice was drowned out by footsteps approaching her. Geneva turned her attention from the cupped hands in her lap to the source of the sound. There was a woman approaching her, carrying a briefcase and adorned in a typical attire for office workers. Behind her caked makeup and despite her hair being pulled back so tightly in her bun, she held a friendly smile on her face._

_"Hello, sweetheart," her friendly voice said to her as she knelt to her level. "Would you be Geneva?" She only nodded in response. "I'm Mrs. Layna. I've heard your great-uncle might not be very nice to you, so I'm going to go home with you tonight and see if that's true__. Is that okay with you?" Geneva shrugged, a signal that she wouldn't care as it is not her place to say. "Listen to me, Geneva, I want you to know that whatever I have to do, it's all for you. I just want to make sure you'll be okay and you'll grow up very happy. That's all I want for you."_

She was snapped out of the memory of the kind woman from long ago when the door to the chambers opened. Anakin was the only one to emerge and his expression seemed as if he didn't bear good , his padawan asked him to share while Geneva looked on.

"What are we doing with her?" she asked.

"I'm keeping her for a night, and tomorrow I'm taking her somewhere else. I don't know where yet, but I have ideas."

"Somewhere on planet, I presume?" she answered, almost teasingly. "Maybe with a certain female senator?"

"Okay, Senator Amidala is my first choice. She's independent, close to the temple in case of emergency, and is capable of self-defense when she's in danger. I feel like it's the next best option to keeping her here."

"Because there's no other reason to keeping her there while you need to supervise her."

"The senate building is well guarded, so she can stay with her at almost all times. There's other reasons, tons of them."

"Uh-huh, sure, whatever you say." As she walked off, she shook her head and chuckled further at something Geneva didn't quite understand.

* * *

"You and I have some business to take care of," Anakin told the woman as he sat beside her. "I want to get you looked over again when we go to look at your leg, if that's okay. I feel like you might need a doctor to just give you a bit of a look and see if you need anything. Is that okay with you?" As it had been since he first brought her back, her only response was a simple shrug. "Do you have a name?" Again, a simple shrug. "What should we call you, then?" Once again, a shrug. "We're going to have to think of something to call you. We'll let you tell us what you prefer, okay?" Unsurprisingly, her answer was another shrug. "I'll take you to my room so you can get dressed and then we'll go see the medics." As he stood, she obediently followed him.

At first, she stumbled as a reminder of her replaced leg in need of her permanent prosthetic, but Anakin steadied her and allowed her to balance herself. The longer they were on the move, and even as she was dressing herself with him turned away from her, the easier balance came to her, so it seemed. At least, Anakin decided to stop asking her after a bit of time had passed and she seemed to not even need it. He didn't think she would agree, regardless of how many times he asked, but figured he could at least offer for her in case she happened to change her mind. The more he observed it, the more she seemed to be lost in some sort of trance. Hopefully, she would learn to open up again.

Once she got examined, everything was about what was expected. Since Anakin was in charge of her, he was held responsible for all that the medics gave her; minor painkillers and antibiotics for her leg, supplements for her malnutrition, and narcotics to ease any anxiety issues until she is able to get counseling. The only special instruction that wasn't already on the label was to not let her take them without supervision, which was far from an issue. He was also tasked with monitoring her for any other issues, specifically anything that might relate to her traumatic injuries on her head. Any information he could record about her would be useful for later, even if they had to transfer the information to a different facility.

As soon as they were finished with getting her examined, he escorted her to his room to allow her to relax and get a little more comfortable with him. Trying to communicate while she is likely in such a vulnerable state wouldn't be the best idea. If he was going to get anything but a shrug from her, he needed to get her used to his presence. Even if they didn't speak while in the temple, being at her side at almost all times would at least reinforce some sort of connection where she would at least not fear him. Given time, she might learn that all he wants is to help her and will tell him almost anything about her former home.

As they walked back to the room, she trailed close behind him avoiding eye contact with anyone who passed by shyly and her hands cupped in front of her. Even if he turned to look at her and make sure she was opening up to her surroundings, she seemed to curl further into herself in what was likely an attempt to disappear into her own body. Everyone expected her to still be reclusive and refuse to communicate with anyone, though it's still a bit disappointing that she is still so uncomfortable with her new surroundings. With any luck, she will end up staying in the temple and won't have to go through a similar anxiety.

"You want some food?" he asked her after a long period of walking in silence. "We can go ahead and get you started on your pills." As expected, she replied with a shrug. "Anything you want?" For a moment, it seemed as though she was thinking about her response, almost as if she was trying to decide if she was afraid of the very idea of getting fed, until she responded with yet another shrug. "I'll just surprise you, then. Is that okay?" What else would she have responded with but a simple, light shrug? "Do you want to stay here while I go out? I can leave you with Ahsoka and I won't be too long." Once more, a shrug.

* * *

Geneva had no interest in who was watching over her. As it stood, she had no idea what she even wanted. If she went home, she'd be punished. If she stayed, she had no idea what the Jedi would do to her. Either way, she didn't know which choice she would later still couldn't even tell which side was lying to her. She saw more of a harsh side to Great-uncle Jard the more she remembered, but she could also justify it whenever she questioned it. At the same time, what have the Jedi done to her? Sure, their victories meant Great-uncle Jard would take the rage of failure out on her, but it was far from their own fault for wanting to win a war.

Were they even the good guys? All Geneva's life, Great-uncle Jard and his master have said otherwise, but their actions seem to say different. They seem to want her to feel safe and welcome, they even want to repair her injuries and help her get over her fears. Great-uncle Jard, on the other hand, seemed to only want to cause her injuries and mock her for being afraid of anything, even him. Was it even wrong for someone to want to invoke fear into another? After all, Great-uncle Jard was an authoritative figure over her. He raised her, after all, from a says old infant to the adult she is now.

The meek, disobedient, troubled adult she is now.

Maybe... maybe she had been wrong all her life. Maybe Great-uncle Jard, her father figure and supposedly her only relative, was wrong. Maybe the Jedi know what is best for her better than her own great-uncle. It still made no sense to her, but maybe Great-uncle Jard really _did_ abuse her. Maybe he really _did_ only tell her he cared to keep her loyal when, in reality, he didn't even care if she lived or died, as long as he still held power in the war.


	5. Chapter 5

Due to the small size of the room, Anakin was forced to share his bed with the unnamed woman. Since he normally stays up late anyways, he didn't really care about letting her sleep for a while until he decided to he was tired enough to be under the covers for few seconds before falling asleep. Besides, he could see a storm approaching from the window, and he normally had a hard time sleeping through the roar of Coruscant thunder. Sandstorms on Tatooine were one thing when he was growing up, but those were never as loud as a stormy evening on the city planet.

As he felt the storm creep closer, he heard the woman shuffle under the covers in an increasingly fitful sleep. Every so often, a light moan would sound from her throat, as though she were fighting herself to stay asleep. He figured she must have sensed the storm come through her sleep and possibly mistook it for danger, but she would be fine if she woke up from the noise and found only a storm. Of course, he would have _thought_, anyone would have figured the same thing and dismiss her fears immediately without further consideration, until the storm really did wake her up.

A bright, vibrant flash of lighting lit up the whole room, a sign that the thunder to follow would be far from hushed. A tense pause in the room, and the thunder sounded. Almost immediately, the woman screamed almost as loudly and breathed rapidly and heavily with her widened eyes watering.

"Woah, woah," Anakin soothed as he came to her side and wrapped an arm around her, "it's okay. It's just thunder."

"He's found me!" she gasped as tears streaked her face. "He found me and now he's going to kill me!"

"No one's going to kill you. You're safe in here." For a moment, she seemed to calm down, until the room was once again illuminated with a flash of lighting from outside. Instead of screaming again, she curled her body into Anakin's torso as her eyes darted between the window in front of them and the door to their side. The second thunder sounded, her whole body tensed up and curled even tighter to Anakin, and she seemed to be mumbling something under her breath. Her face was hidden against his chest, but he could tell she was likely in tears from the heaving of her back and the wetness on her face.

* * *

This was it. Great-uncle Jard found her after leaving home and disobeying his orders. He was going to kill her for being such an unruly and ungrateful child. No matter how many times the Jedi will tell her their temple is a safe place from him, it was a lie. She was never safe from Great-uncle Jard. As long as she was away from home, she was doomed to constantly look behind her and await the inevitable torture he would give her. It was only a matter of time before he broke down the door and ripped her off of Anakin before brutally killing both of them.

The lights turned on after she had been waiting on Great-uncle Jard to emerge for a while. She glanced up from Anakin's torso and glanced around the room. Fortunately, they were still alone. "I promise, he's not here."

"How do you know?" He stood and gestured for her to follow him. Hesitantly, she followed him to the window, where he guided her.

"Dooku may have lightning, but not all lightning is his. If you don't believe me, just look outside." Geneva reached her hand over towards the blinds to open them, to see if Anakin was telling her the truth, then receded her hand almost immediately in fear of what she would find. What if he was lying? What if Great-uncle Jard told him to lie so he could take her back to Serenno? He could easily kill her there or anything else he wanted to do to her, whatever that may be. He likely wouldn't kill her just so she would suffer even longer. He always did it to her.

Then again, what has Anakin, or any of the Jedi for that matter, done to her that screamed they were lying to her or working for her great-uncle? They've given her a home, which used to be restricted for her back on Serenno. They gave her food, something that she only received conditionally. They gave her medicine and care from doctors, care that she would have been forced to give herself on the field with the enemy trying to kill her while she fought for validation. They gave her a place where she felt at least somewhat safe, as opposed to the constant fear of her great-uncle she felt in her old environment. Why does she still feel like she shouldn't trust them?

With a deep breath, she closed her eyes and opened the blinds. "See? He's not there, is he?" Anakin asked her. She opened her eyes to the window, vacant of Great-uncle Jard and streaked with rainwater. Off in the distance, she saw a jagged line, reminiscent of the bolts Great-uncle Jard would emit from his fingers to hurt her, strike at the horizon from the dark clouds. She backed away from the window as it flashed in the sky with her hand creeping towards the back of her head, the spot she was normally attacked, and curled into herself when she heard the roar of thunder. "It's alright, it's just the storm," he told her as he knelt to her side.

"Are you sure?" she asked with her head moving to face him. He nodded reassuringly.

"I promise, he won't get you while you're here. As long as you are under our watch, he won't hurt you."

* * *

The next morning, Geneva found herself out of from the temple in a speeder. For a moment, the change from a bedroom to a moving vehicle at such a high altitude was a bit intimidating, until she turned to her side and found a familiar face. "Finally awake, are we?" Anakin asked her without averting his eyes towards her. She nodded silently and shyly in response. "I told you we were going a while ago, I guess you weren't really up yet. I managed to arrange for us to stay somewhere while the council is still figuring out what to do with you and they have me watching you."

"We aren't staying in the temple?"

"No. The one night was, unfortunately, the best I could get, but I got the next best place for you to be, and I'll still be there. You'll still be safe."

"You're absolutely sure I'll still be okay without as many people to run to?"

"Even if something happens and someone comes to get you, you have protection, and I have orders to call for back-up in case of any emergency. I'm absolutely sure you'll be okay."

"Where are we even going?"

"Well, Senator Amidala said she was able to take you in for a little while when I got in touch with her last night. All she wants to know about you is your name."

"Wouldn't we all?" she mumbled.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I... have no idea what my name is. I grew up with the name Great-uncle Jard gave me, but, since I don't know if we're even related, I don't know if that's my real name."

"We can do some digging at the temple when we figure out what to do with you. For now, we need to call you _something_."

"Like what?"

"What was your name before? Maybe we can shorten it." For a moment, she was silent. Should she _really_ be giving her name to her Great-uncle's enemy? For all she knew, this could still be an elaborate ruse and she was still seen as a prisoner. The second she gives her name, she would fail and be disciplined. She had been taught better than to reveal her identity to the enemy. At the same time, why? The Jedi are the enemy, so why would they collaborate with Great-uncle Jard? It seems as if they really _are_ trying to help her, even if she can't comprehend what they have to gain from this, but it is still possible that Great-uncle Jard was watching her and waiting for her to do wrong.

"... why are you helping me?" she asked after a moment.

"I take it that means you still don't entirely trust us."

"I just want to know. Were you hired to make me slip up or something? If I give my name, will Great-uncle Jard come out from under us and bring me home to discipline me."

"What?" he asked with his voice raising in pitch and face contorting to confusion, "No, of course not. Look, I, personally, don't have anything to gain in helping you, and I don't care about the war's results from this."

"Then why are you doing it?"

"I'm doing it because I _want_ to. My lot in life is to help people who are suffering, it's what Jedi do as peacekeepers, and the Jedi seem to be more concerned with the war than trying to do their _real_ job. Helping someone get away from our biggest rival is a step down a better route than we seem to be going." A silence washed over them. The wind in their faces and the hum of the other vehicles around them were the only sounds they heard. Geneva realized in that moment, there was no way Anakin was lying about his intentions. He was too genuine, too calming and understanding.

Maybe...

Maybe he _wasn't_ trying to make her slip up and really wanted to just find a new home for her.

"Geneva," she finally said to him. "He told me my name was Geneva."

"Would it be okay if we called you Eva until we find out what your real name is?" In response, she merely shrugged. "Back to the quiet?" Once again, she shrugged quietly. "When we get there, you can be silent all you want, I just want you to introduce yourself first. You probably won't speak much, which is completely fine, but give her a proper introduction, if nothing else. Is that okay?" She nodded at his condition. "Good. I feel like you two will get along pretty well."

* * *

As he expected, the introductions between the two women went fairly well. Geneva was quiet and seemed to just want to be alone, but Padmé didn't seem to mind all that much. From what Anakin explained about her, she seemed to understand that Geneva wanted her own space. Over the conversation they had the previous night, she was extremely understanding of the desire to stay isolated and reclusive, so long as they made sure she was eating well and didn't disappear in the middle of the night and never return.

"Eva's getting moved in," she mused as she met with Anakin on the couch. "I wold her she could stay in her room as long as she needed to as long as she came out to let us know she's still here every once in a while."

"Good. She doesn't really speak until she's comfortable with people, I'm sure the freedom to be alone will help."

"I need you to tell me something, though," she asked as she sat beside him. "You never really told me where you found her."

"She was breaking into the temple and we caught her. She stayed in the med-bay for a while since she was injured and we found out she wasn't living in the greatest place."

"Where was was it? She seemed terrified to even be here, I feel like I need to get security just so she lives here semi-comfortably." How could he tell her? She deserved to know, but Geneva needed a safe place to stay, even if she wouldn't stay forever. Security wasn't as much of an issue since Anakin practically had orders to be at Geneva's side at all times, but Dooku being after her could definitely lead to issues as far as trust and comfort were concerned.

"Would it make a difference if she can stay here?" he asked her nervously.

"That depends. Is someone after her?"

"... possibly," he hesitated. "We don't know yet, but possibly."

"Who?"

"Count Dooku."

"What?"

"He's her great-uncle, from what he's told her, but he's been abusing her. As it stands, we aren't even sure if they're related. We're keeping an eye on her until we realize whether she's staying at the temple or if we're going to find her family and watch her from a distance."

"Wait, wait, wait... Eva is Dooku's great-niece?"

"Maybe. At the very least, it's what he's been telling her. They're making me stay with her just in case he comes after her while she's vulnerable like this. If he sends people or decides to come get her himself, we can stop him."

"Are you sure?" she asked as he took his false hand. "Are you sure we could keep him away from her? I don't want to lose any more of you to him... or worse..."

"It'll be fine, Love," he spoke as he pulled her in closer. "I promise, we'll be able to stop him if he comes after Eva." A silence washed over the two. No words were spoken as they held one another in a comforting and caring embrace. Would they be okay? Would they really be able to protect Geneva in emergency? Sure, Anakin would tell anyone that, but even he didn't know. In the past, he could tell there was possibly some kind of restrain to Dooku's fighting style against him. It was entirely possible that he was holding back and Anakin would not be able to stop him if he went after Geneva.

As his mind began to shift towards Geneva, he heard her door open. "Is everything alright, Eva?" Padmé called out to her as they separated.

"Yeah," she answered. "I just need to take my pills."

"I'll go look for them, give me a second," Anakin called back. "She takes anxiety pills and vitamins," he informed his wife.

"Does she need anything with them?"

"The vitamins need water, and I think her anxiety pills needs food."

* * *

After a mostly uneventful few weeks, Geneva had grown more comfortable around both Anakin and Padmé, even if she still chooses to stay formal with them. Many times, she had convinced them to let her follow Padmé to the senate building and stay with her for the day (though, it wasn't difficult to get Anakin on her side with it). Very soon after considering herself relaxed around with being around the two, she walked out of her room one morning to see them speaking with Master Windu over hologram. From what she started hearing, it seemed that the council had made their decision concerning her fate. She wandered to the doorway going from the hallway to the rest of the loft where she was able to listen in on the rest of the call.

"Will we at least be able to monitor her?" Anakin asked.

"_We don't know, yet,"_ the image answered. _"It depends on how far away from the temple she ends up. If she's still in this system, we can send someone over to check on her every month or so, but the most we can do otherwise is call her family and see if she's still there, which isn't the best idea."_

"We'll bring her over in a few minutes to see who her family is, then." Windu's transparent image nodded, then disappeared. Once it was completely vanished, he fell onto the sofa and threw his face into his hand. "How much did you hear, Eva?" he asked her.

"I just walked in," she answered. "It sounds like I'm not staying, though."

"No, they're sending you off. They have their reasons... albeit terrible reasons..."

"To be honest, I didn't expect them to let me stay at the temple. You _did_ meet me when I broke into the archives."

"Even still. We don't even know where to send you or if you'll be guarded properly."

"I can go pack and we can go find out together."

"What else can you do at this point?" he groaned almost completely under his breath. While he groaned more and more about how how much he gave to keep her around with the senator comforting him, she retreated back to her room and gathered the few belongings she had, which was mostly an extra change of clothes or two. At least it was more than she had not long ago, even if it wasn't much. She was disappointed to leave, but at least it was possible she and Anakin would meet again at some point. With any luck, they wouldn't meet because of some sort of attack on her permanent home.

Her few belongings were compacted in a small bag, which she slung over her shoulder as she left the room to meet with the Jedi. He was outside on the balcony, sitting next to the vehicle they used previously prepared to take them back to the temple. "Are you ready?" he asked while he stood. In response, she nodded, and they both climbed in, Anakin making sure she was secure before getting in the driver's seat. As they took off, Geneva managed to wave what would possibly her final goodbye to the senator.

* * *

"The entire process should take a few minutes at most, and all we need is a bit of blood to find a match."

"You ready?" Anakin asked her. She nodded, just as silently as she had been once she got into the speeder.

"If you could just rest your arm right here," the medic told Geneva as a small, angled table was placed in front of her, "I'll draw your blood and match it." Just as the request was given, she laid her hand, palm up, and sighed deeply. As the needle crept towards her skin, she turned away to avert her eyes from the sight of it penetrating her skin. In the time the small amount of her blood was being drained, Anakin held and stroked her hand from her side, a strangely calming gesture she wasn't quite aware she needed. It didn't take long before she felt the needle slide out of her arm and she turned her attention back to the medic sealing her wound. "I'll be back momentarily with your results."

The second they were alone, a short silence washed over the two. An uncomfortable, yet somber, silence was all that lingered between them. Geneva sat straight with her hands cupped in her lap while Anakin sat to her side slouched forward with his elbows on his knees. "Do you think they'll accept me?" she asked once they had sat for a while.

"You mean your family?"

"Yeah. Do you think they'll want me around after all this time?"

"Of course. Who wouldn't want you around?"

"Aside from the council?" The two chuckled lightly together until Anakin spoke once again.

"They did wanted you, the reason you aren't staying here is a combination of things. As far as your family is concerned, they probably always wanted you around."

"Then why haven't they found me, yet?"

"If I had to guess, they had no way to find you. Dooku is among the most powerful people in the galaxy, he would have ways of covering it up any leads for your real family. It's possible they couldn't care for you and he stepped in, but I can't say for sure what happened."

"What if they _didn't_ want me? What if they handed me over to Great-uncle Jard because he was the only one who would take me?"

"I don't think they did that. If it ends up in the unlikely possibility they don't want you, we can figure something out. We can talk to them and explain, or we can watch you for a little longer until you can go on your own. I really think they'll want you, though."

"What if home isn't home?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"What if... things just go back to where they were? What if my family is as bad as Great-uncle Jard and I end up going back to being abused?"

"Look at me, Eva," he sighed as he grabbed her shoulders. Her eyes moved towards his to urge him to speak. "I _really_ doubt anything like that will _ever_ happen to you with family again. That's family, but there's really bad people out there who will not hesitate to hurt people like you who are still hurt like this. If it does happen to you again and you don't feel safe, you get in contact with me as soon as possible and I will deal with the council yelling at me and come get you. I will _not_ hesitate to help you if you need me. Do you understand?" Silently and slightly hesitantly, she nodded. "Come here." She complied, leaning forward into his torso as his arms wrapped around her back. "Whoever and wherever your real family is, they have probably been worried sick about you all this time. I'm confident they've always wanted you around, they've always wanted to care for you, and they'll take care of you from here on out."

"You really think so?"

"Yeah." There was a brief pause until Anakin spoke once again, "Speaking of which, why is it taking so long? They should be back with results by now."

* * *

Once someone finally appeared with what the two hope was the results, good news seemed to elude them and confusion took its place. They were unable to find a match for Geneva's blood, leading the medics to believe there was damage to the machinery, so they said. As a result, they attempted to use another computer to scan, but were still unable to match with anyone. After a small moment of explaining to Geneva and Anakin the series of events, the two were separated as the medics wanted to look over Geneva and see how she was recovering. Geneva was force to stay in the room her blood was drawn while Anakin was taken outside of the wing to wait on her.

It wasn't long before he was accompanied by Obi-wan and absentmindedly acknowledged him. "Anakin, I need to ask you a few things, and they might not be the sort of thing you _want _to think about, but I need you to answer me as fully and honestly as possible without getting upset over it."

"Uh... okay?"

"Do you know anything about your genetic history at all?"

"Nothing I haven't mentioned in the past."

"Your sure there's nothing you haven't told us? Maybe about certain patterns that have shown up?"

"Like what?"

"Anything like mental disorders, or health risks, or, maybe, _siblings_?"

"Why siblings?"

"It's just a suggestion. Does any of that exist as a possibility for you?"

"Not that I'm aware."

"Did your mother ever mention anything about siblings at all?"

"No, I've always been an only child."

"Are you _absolutely_ sure about that? Maybe a sibling you were separated from at a young age and wouldn't remember?"

"Are you saying she's a liar?" he growled.

"No, not at all. We just... we don't know what she would have told you, and we don't know how you would remember it."

"Why is me having siblings suddenly a big deal?"

"Well..." He hung on his words nervously, as though one wrong word would mean getting his nose broken by Anakin's prosthetic fist, which probably wasn't far from the truth. "I'm sure you were told that the scan on Eva's blood yielded no results, right?" he asked.

"That's what we heard."

"That's... not entirely true. Every scan has identified her blood as yours, with minute differences, which normally doesn't happen unless two people are as genetically similar as clones. We doubt that's what this is and believe the system is matching you both as twin siblings."

"Wait, what?"

"You two might be related, specifically siblings. As it stands, there's no way to know for sure, so we're trying to dig around for any possible explanation..." The longer Obi-wan spoke, the more his words seemed to fade away. It wasn't possible for him to have a sibling. His mother would have mentioned it to him if he did. She would have mentioned at some point that he had a sibling who was likely out in the galaxy somewhere, regardless of whether or not he would ever meet him or her. He had never been told that there was a possibility he had a sibling, or even any family past his mother, regardless of his upbringing.

"No," he eventually spoke to bring himself out of his daze.

"What?"

"No. Just... no. There's no way this is possible."

"We're still debating if there's a way, Anakin. It's all speculation right now."

"Well, it's not true. There's no way we're related."

"Anakin, you left home when you were still very young. It's possible she never wanted to tell you to begin with, let alone so early."

"It doesn't matter, she would have told me at some point, most likely when I was leaving, that I had a sister. She never even hinted that I was anything _but _an only child."

"Anakin..."

"I can watch over her a little longer while this is getting figured out, but I can assure you she's _not_ related to me, and she's definitely not my sister."

* * *

Almost immediately upon reuniting with him, Geneva spotted the difference in Anakin's behavior towards her, though decided not to question and leave it to him on whether or not he would discuss it with her. Although, she was definitely curious what she missed between him and Obi-wan to change his mood so drastically. After a little while longer of waiting quietly for results with no change, the two decided to leave and pass the time elsewhere. As per usual, she allowed him to lead and followed quietly without protest.

The ultimately decided to just go back to his room since neither wanted to leave the temple in case the results changed and the only other action they could take was sparring together. They walked inside and the two carried on as they did last time they were alone in the room, Geneva sat on the bed and Anakin stood at his tool bench to, presumably, relieve whatever stress just came up. All the while, Geneva couldn't help but think that the disconnect Anakin suddenly had through the Force was _her_ doing. After all, he was ignoring her, now, and he seemed to not even want to look at her. Even her sitting in the same room as him seemed to add to the disconnection he was radiating.

"Was it something _I_ did?"

"What?" Anakin asked as he turned to face her.

"Oh, did I say that out loud?" she blushed in response. "Sorry, that was supposed to stay in my head."

"You didn't do anything, Eva. I just... I got some less-than-favorable news and I don't quite know how to take it right now."

"Oh... maybe I could help you with it."

"I wish. I'd rather not talk about right now, honestly."

"Are you sure? You might feel better."

"I'm sure. It's something I need to think about on my own," he told her as he turned back to the table.

"If you're sure about that. I'm sure your girlfriend would be interested in talking about it with you, though." Anakin froze as the tools in his hands clattered towards the ground.

"What girlfriend? I don't have a girlfriend. What are you talking about?"

"Anakin, I stayed in the room next to Padmé's. I could hear everything that was going on... _Everything_."

"Oh... y-you did?"

"Yeah. I won't tell anyone about it, but you guys should _seriously_ invest in some sound-proof walls."

"... noted..." For a moment, silence washed back over them. There was a tension that accompanied the quiet, which was a bit expected. Anakin had picked up his tools and gone back to what he was doing before, and Geneva continued to allow her eyes to wander around the room in minor curiosity. The two allowed the silence to carry on until the awkward passed, which is when Geneva decided to speak once again.

"How long do you think it'll be until we know?" Anakin seemed to mumble something in response, then answered.

"Well, there's something wrong with the system, so they need to fix it before we know anything."

"I've been feeling different," she answered shyly. "It's almost as if they're keeping something from me. What if they _do_ know?"

"They'd say something, Eva."

"I've just been feeling a sense of suppression from them. I could be wrong, though."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: (forgot to put this on last update and that was my bad) **** This is a temporary update. The chapter is not yet complete, but more will be added to pass the time until it is.**

While Geneva slept, Anakin was unable to even relax with what Obi-wan proposed to him. There was no way he had a sister, much less a _twin_ sister. His mother would have told him about having another child, even if they were separated almost immediately, just to tell him there was another one of him in existence. It was unlikely they would meet as slaves, but she would want him to at least know that she existed, especially as he was freed and able to search for her. There was no way he could find an explanation for his mother to hold something like this from him.

He needed to find out for sure. He needed to confirm with someone and find out if it was true. Maybe the council wouldn't tell him, something about surprising both of them or keeping the information secret so he wouldn't give it away, but he needed time to wrap his head around the idea. This was too big of a surprise to thrust on someone in haste. He needed time to adjust and accept her as a sibling. If he were anyone else, he would have about nine-months or so to accept the change, but, knowing the council, he would likely only get moments.

If nobody would reveal the truth, maybe he would give meditation a try.

Every time he even considered meditation, all he could hear was Obi-wan lecturing him about all of what his master was only able to describe as "essentials". "Calm your breathing, Anakin", "Clear your mind entirely, Anakin", "Relax your body, Anakin", "Stop saying the Force is telling you violence is the solution just to get out of meditating, Anakin". It was always annoying to hear the same words on repeat in his head, especially when communicating with and asking the Force truly was the answer and he didn't want to follow through _just _ to avoid a mental lecture.

He told himself the roof where it was quiet would be a better place than his room with Geneva sleeping. There was too much on his mind whenever he laid eyes on her, almost as much as when he heard her sleep, quiet as it was.

He just had to know before the council disclosed anything to her.

* * *

"Go right on in, they're waiting on you," Anakin told her almost somberly.

"They said they wanted both of us."

"I just can't right now."

"Why not?"

"I..." he sighed, "didn't get a lot of sleep last night." Judging by the dark circles under his eyes, Geneva could tell he wasn't lying, but something sounded off about his excuse. Was he hiding something?

"Are you sure?"

"It's probably better if you're the only one there, anyway."

"Okay. I'll come get you when we're done."

"Actually, I'm going to go lay down. Can you get Ahsoka, instead?"

"Oh... okay..." Something was definitely up. He knew something, he definitely knew something and he was refusing to tell her. Regardless, she would have to ask him about it later. Master Yoda summoned her to his chambers to reveal her family. A whole day of anticipation would finally pay off, her identity would be revealed... she would finally go home. All she had to do was sit down and listen to whatever he told her. All she had to do was hear where they were and _who_ they were before meeting them. So many questions would spiral in her head, she could already feel it.

She hesitantly walked inside, the door opening as she stepped forward and Anakin walked away. "Come in, young one," Master Yoda's voice spoke to her from the dim interior. "Take a seat." As always, she obeyed her superior. The longer she was there, the more she was able to identify a third presence in the room with them. "Know why we called you here, do you?" he asked her.

"I know it's about my family," she answered. "That's about it."

"Hold on," the other voice, presumably Master Windu's, interjected. "Why isn't Skywalker with you."

"He said he didn't sleep well and wanted to rest while I was here."

"We explicitly asked him to join."

"I can pass on whatever information he needed to hear. Why is it so important anyway?" She was able to see the two look at one another, then back towards her, only confusing her further.

"Involve him, this news does." Her eyes widened in the shocking revelation.

* * *

"I just can't believe this, Master. It didn't even pair her with our mother, yet she's my _sister_?"

"Our guess is that you were the first in your line to have gone into it, at least in a while. If the Force confirmed it last night, it's only further proof."

"I just can't understand why she never would have told me..."

"We came up with an explanation last night. Now that Eva knows, I would ask her."

"Why don't _you_ tell me? You're right here."

"So is Eva." The door opened behind them sounded off with a knock a moment later. "You two should have this talk among yourselves. Maybe you'll open up to the idea if you do." He and Geneva switched places with a quick and friendly nod to one another, leaving her and Anakin in silence. For a moment, he refused to even acknowledge her and sat quietly on his bed. Geneva, on the other hand, debated reaching out to him and speaking first, though seemed to hang on her words. Eventually, she bit her tongue and sat beside him, taking in another moment of silence.

"I heard you don't really want me as a sister."

"It's not that," he sighed. "It's—"

"Please," she interrupted with a finger on his lips, "just let me explain." He nodded, beckoning her to continue. "Master Yoda and Master Windu told me how you feel about having a sibling... about how our mother never mentioned anything about me. Am I wrong?" He shook his head from side-to-side. "There's a reason she never told you about me. She was told I died as an infant."

"What?"

"The council managed to find a single medical report for us. It was from the day we were born. Moments after, in fact. It even had a single image with the two of us."

"What?"

"The council managed to find a single medical report for us. It was from the day we were born. Moments after, in fact. It even had a single image with the two of us."

"Image?"

"Apparently, some slave owners do it with newborns to keep tabs on them or refine the medical analysis with a visual, but our genetics stay out of the system to keep slavery more quiet." She took the data-pad she was holding and handed it to him. As she said, there was an image with the rest of the document; two newborns, the stronger, healthier one holding the weaker, pale one, both asleep and wrapped in rags that were presumably supposed to be their blanket. The rest of the document was a medical report for a little girl. Through all of the birth defects that were listed, one vital part of the document stood out.

"_Mother: Shmi_".

"It said I wasn't expected to last through the night, so they just assumed that I had died when I suddenly vanished... when Great-uncle Jard took me."

"This explains so much," he whispered to himself. It meant more than Eva could ever know. Even now, all he could see when he looked at her face was his—or rather, _their_—mother. She looked so much like her, even down to her anxiety-induced gray hairs that straggled in her brunette curls. Maybe it was better now that he knew he had a sister. Maybe it was even better that she looks so much like their mother. He had another chance to protect her, to keep her alive, to keep her out of harms way. "This... explains so much..." he whispered shakily.

"Are you okay?"

"Are you okay?" she asked as a hand touched his arm.

"I'm fine," he answered as he wiped away the tear he didn't even know started falling."This is so much to take in, but I'm excited to hear it."

"Are you too excited to give me a name? I wanted my real family to rename me, and... well... here you are." For a moment he was silent in thought, all the while trying to calm himself enough to stop the tears of joy from flowing. Slowly, deeply, he took calming breaths. It was longer than he thought for his eyes to stop flowing, more gradual than he would have wanted. No one had ever seen him so vulnerable, yet here he was with a girl he just learned was his _sister_ at his side. Soon enough, his face was damp, yet the tears had settled.

What would her new name be? Better yet, what name would their mother have given them? Maybe something close to his own given their genetic similarities. Or would she have been named something completely different for a whole new identity from her brother? Would she even _have_ a separate identity? Had they been raised together, from slave on Tatooine to Jedi Knight on Coruscant, would they have been one in the same or completely different? Although, now her identity might very well be "Anakin Skywalker's twin sister", so does it even matter?

"How about Analin?" he asked her.

"Analin..." she whispered to herself with her eyes closed, as though testing the name on her own tongue. "Analin..." she smiled as she repeated the new name. "Analin..." she repeated once more as her eyes opened and focused on him. "I like it."

"I'm glad you do... Analin," he replied with an equally ecstatic beam for her. They shared the moment for a while, until his sister turned her face away from him and distorted her face from the joyous smile she seemed to never show. "What's wrong?"

"It's... it's just..." she started with her hands cupping together nervously.

"I'm listening," he coaxed as he held her hands.

"We should go home," she blurted out suddenly.

"What? Go home?"

"Yeah," she smiled. "We should go back home. Our mother doesn't know, yet. We should tell her that I'm alive."

His thoughts were at a halt. How could he tell her, a still-damaged girl dealing with getting over a life of abuse, a girl who just learned was her sibling, that her brother was all she had? That smile, so innocent, so naive, yet strong enough to be able to silence everything in his head. He couldn't possibly tell her... not yet, at least. He would have to tell her eventually, sure, but he just couldn't shatter her spirits while they're still so early in recovery. She needed to heal more before something so harsh was shoved on her, she needed more time than she had gotten thus far. However, he couldn't just ignore her. He couldn't tell her, sure, but she needed _something_.

Without a single word, a single hesitation, he pulled her towards him and held her. Nothing was said between them, she never even spoke, just a silent embrace between the two. Holding her while she waited for an answer brought back the memories of that harrowing day. He hated the planet enough, he never wanted to go back, even when the council ordered him to, but she didn't know... she couldn't _possibly_ know. Just knowing she didn't have a clue seemed to make it even harder for him to face. Knowing that one day he would have to tell her and go through the entire ordeal was even harder than the day itself.

* * *

As it turned out, the council wanted to wait and see if Anakin would accept Analin as a sister as they would have debated further on whether or not to let her stay. If he was fine with having a sister, it would work in her favor and would lean them towards keeping her, but they would place her somewhere else if Anakin continued to deny the evidence. The message was relayed through Analin that they were to speak with someone before the end of the day or the council would assume Anakin still wanted nothing to do with a sibling and judge the situation accordingly.

Since there wasn't a meeting in session, they figured they would meet up with Obi-wan and discuss the matter with him. They walked towards his room, both of them joining hands in a proud display of their recently discovered family ties. Though the discovery was recent, they already feel close enough to almost call themselves inseparable from the other. Analin suspected it was more from her brother, but she somewhat suspected for a while that she had a different family from Great-uncle Jard and finds comfort in having a sibling so caring, even before they realized their connection.

"You're really okay with this, Anakin?" Obi-wan asked with concern after they spread the good news. "You're probably going to be completely responsible for her, and you already have Ahsoka to worry about."

"I don't care," he answered. "Siblings are meant to look out for each other regardless... we have a chance to have that, now, and we both want that."

"And you're absolutely okay with that?"

"I am. I'll come up with a way to give her and Ahsoka the attention they both need."

"I don't think this is something you can trial-and-error so willingly. You can seriously damage someone that way if you already don't have a plan."

"I'll figure something out."

"Do you have anything to add to this?" he asked as he turned towards Analin. "The last thing we all want is to restrict either of your opinions."

"We both talked about this on the way over," she answered. "We've started finding ways to make it work. If one things fails, we have a few other options already on the table."

"And you're perfectly okay with that?"

"I am."

"Alright, then. I'll be sure to spread the word. If you end up staying, There might be a few conditions."

"Like what?"

"You... might have to become active."

"Active?"

"In the war, specifically for the Republic," Anakin answered. "They won't throw her in this soon, will they? I mean, it's still so soon after getting her away from him, and we don't know how extreme any of her reactions would be just yet. She would need a bit of time first."

"I agree, but I might not be able to do much. The most I might be able to manage is getting you two together since you're probably the only one she trusts enough."

"While we're on this, how will the troops react?"

"Probably not very well. That's probably how I'd get you two together."

"Would it really be a bad thing, though?" she asked the two quietly. Almost instantly, the two turned their attentions to her. "I mean, I'd be giving back for all of the time and promise of safety, even reuniting me with my family. Would it really be a bad thing if I were to help?"

"We aren't saying it's necessarily bad or wrong," Anakin answered. "We're saying it's too soon. We need people helping and doing more, and you sound like you really want to be involved, and that's great. The problem is that you still need more time to heal before you're able to do anything."

"I've already had a few weeks, though. I've gotten better."

"Think about it this way," Obi-wan started. "If we were to pull up a hologram of your great-uncle, with where you're at now, how do you think you would react? Really think about it for a minute." Analin hung her head in thought. Even the mention of Great-uncle Jard was enough to illicit somewhat repressed fears and even the many painful images saved forever within her mind. The day it all started for her was among the most prominent. Great-uncle Jard stopped being almost a sort of father-figure and slowly became the monster everyone was exposing him as to her.

_She was so little, no older than four-years-old when the mistreatment started. Great-uncle Jard had started spending more time in his office in solitude, leaving the few service droids they kept around to care for her. Many times, she was curious as to what he did when he left her alone, though only decided to go through with getting a quick peek inside. In her innocent mind, she would have thought he would welcome her, maybe even let her in on what was going on, even though he told her to stay away. She was still his great-niece, after all, and he still loved her dearly like the substitute parent he was._

_In fact, instead of just opening the door and skipping inside, she decided to surprise him by waiting for him inside. She hid herself under his desk, giggling slightly at how she anticipated Great-uncle Jard to react. Had she known better, she would have run away before it was too late. Instead, she stayed. She stayed under the desk in anticipation and the desire to have Great-uncle Jard notice again._

_It wasn't long before the door opened and she could feel Great-uncle Jard enter the room from the Force, despite her inexperience in the powers. She wanted to wait for him to come over to her, but those plans were quickly shattered._

"_Geneva," he growled sternly, "come here." _

"_Surprise!" she shouted as she jumped out with her hands in the air and a huge smile on her face. However, the smile faded quickly as she realized he was far from happy to see her. "Weren't you surprised?" she asked timidly._

"_Oh, I'm surprised, alright," he answered. "I'm surprised to see you in here after I clearly told you to stay out."_

"_I... I just..."_

"_You **know** I've told you this room is off limits."_

"_B-but..."_

"_You're not to come back into this room again, Geneva. Is that clear?"_

"_But, I..."_

"_**Is that clear, Geneva?**" She paused for a moment. Her eyes stung and began to water as her lips quivered in the realization that she had done wrong. She never intended to make Great-uncle Jard mad, but she knew that didn't matter in the slightest._

"_Y...yes, sir."_

"_Away with you, I have work to do." She slowly shuffled out of the room, her feet dragging on the floor as she left the room. "Do **not** disturb my work **again**," he growled as she stepped out in the hallway. When the door slammed on her, everything only went downhill at her home._

"I would probably hide... maybe even scream... maybe start crying..." she answered almost shamefully.


End file.
